Mayor Turner Kicks Off First Annual Arts Festival

On Saturday September 16, 2017, the Houston Arts Partners coalition (HAP) will host the inaugural Arts All Around Festival at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. This event is the newest component of the annual HAP Conference and will welcome participants of all ages with opportunities to experience the transformative power of creativity as artists and audience members, completely free of charge. For more information on the HAP Conference and the Arts All Around Festival, please visit: www.HAPConference.org.

The Arts All Around Festival will take place in the arts epicenter and innovation hub that is Houston, Texas. This new festival will host a stunning array of artists and arts organizations and Houston-area schools presenting multigenerational activities, a map to local events and evening activities, as well as an upcoming family schedule for Houston visitors and tourists made publicly available for free.

The event is supported by HAP, well known for its annual conference that will run concurrently with the festival. The Houston Arts Partners collaboration was created in 2009 in response to a specific request from Houston-area education administrators for a more efficient and effective method to access arts-educational resources in the region. Today, the HAP Conference hosts over 1,000 attendees from across the state annually, with direct membership and instructional sessions from 51 regional school districts and numerous Houston-based artists and arts organizations. This year's conference theme is "Better Together: Building Community Through the Arts." The Arts All Around Festival will extend these resources and opportunities beyond the school system to reach families, children, arts organizations, and individual artists directly.

Mayor Sylvester Turner, as a crucial supporter of the HAP coalition and this new festival, will kick off the event early in the afternoon. "Access to the arts," Mayor Turner writes, "will help to provide our students with greater resources and information that promotes creative learning, critical thinking, and collaboration, drawing on the power of the arts to inspire and equip ALL of Houston's children to become life-long learners and the creative global citizens of tomorrow." Following Mayor Turner's opening remarks, visitors will experience the power of the arts to transform lives, strengthen community and foster unity across our diverse cultures.

While talking about the Arts All Around Festival, HAP Co-chair Jonathan Gonzalez said, "When we chose the HAP Conference theme 'Better Together', we knew we needed to expand the event to include kids and families. This festival allow Houstonians of all ages and backgrounds to explore and create with the guidance and expertise of our exceptional community of artists."