SUPPORT TCA: WILLIE NELSON AND LICENSE PLATES HELP KEEP THE MUSIC PLAYING

At the September 27, Texas Associations for Symphony Orchestras (TASO) meeting in Dallas, Mildred Witte, liaison with Texas Commission on the Arts, reminded all TASO representatives of the importance of TCA to the arts in Texas. TCA has recently awarded $3.4 million in arts grants for fiscal year 2005. The State of the Arts license plates are an important source of revenue for TCA. Sales of the State of the Arts plates added $450,000 to TCA’s grants budget this year alone. The Texas Music Project’s first C.D. ”Don’t Mess With Texas Music” chaired by Willie Nelson and featuring Nelson, Clint Black, Erykah Badu and others made possible a contribution of $200,000 for music education grants to Texas schools in 2004 and $100,000 more is designated for 2005. It is the intention of the Texas Music Project that grants be used to support the implementation of fulltime, rigorous music education curricula. TCA now offers the opportunity to apply for Mini-grants of $2000 or less which are awarded monthly and may be applied for throughout the year rather than by the annual deadline. The C.D. makes a great Christmas gift! If you would like more information on how to obtain State of the Arts license plates contact your county tax assessor collector to obtain forms. TASO representative Frances Bethea also has copies of the form and will make them available at the next board meeting.