Arts and culture organizations are essential for community flourishing. They preserve local knowledge and history, foster creative solutions to challenges, and even diversify economies. Yet, in rural Texas these organizations often struggle to get on the radar of larger philanthropies and do not always have the experience, nor the network, to effectively build capacity. Recognizing this challenge, Still Water Foundation sought to find a solution by first asking “who are the rural arts and culture nonprofits in Texas?”
In 2022, Still Water supported long-time arts grantee MINDPOP to research this guiding question and generate a registry of arts and culture organizations established in rural Texas. Over time, a list of over 1,000 nonprofits was compiled.
The next step was to ask these organizations what they needed to further their missions. After rounds of focus groups and interviews, three main issues were identified: the need for increased visibility among funders, the ability to share knowledge and resources among rural organizations, and a space where those connections could be made. As a result of this feedback, Still Water provided seed funding to establish the Rural Texas Arts & Culture Network (RTAC) in partnership with MINDPOP.
RTAC now hosts virtual workshops and convenings for rural arts and culture groups. Recent workshops have included:
- Creating & Sustaining Rural Arts and Culture Programs
- Data: Need to Know or Need to Show?
- Conveying Your Magic: Writing Dynamic One-Pagers
- Supporting the Arts through the Municipal Hotel Occupancy Tax
- Foundation Prospecting & Grants
- Government Grants
- Building Capacity with Events: Visioning & Hosting Fundraisers
These live sessions are complimented by a new online hub, TexasRuralArts.org, where virtual sessions and other resources are made available to all members of the network. The website also hosts a searchable registry of the 1000+ rural arts and culture nonprofits identified through MINDPOP’s original research, providing the organizations much-needed exposure to funders and fellow nonprofit leaders.
Already, over 100 different organizations have participated in live workshops and convenings. Each new event and digital resource aids nonprofit members in fulfilling their respective missions in the unique context of rural Texas.
“The future of the Network is continuing to build rural nonprofits’ capacity to increase their overall sustainability and impact. Our members are creating a community where they know who to call to talk about funding a roof replacement on their historic theatre, to puzzle out how to engage homeschool audiences, or strategize over maximizing their arts and culture district work. They share tips for gathering impact data and establishing relationships with foundations. This is the deep impact of the Network – forging a foundation of supportive relationships that show up for one another to inspire and grow the work across rural Texas.”
Meg Greene, Director, Convenings & Collaborations
Rural Texas Arts & Culture Network, MINDPOP