The Arts and Business In Northwest Houston

Yesterday I had the pleasure of being one of the speakers at the Small Business Luncheon sponsored by the Houston Northwest Chamber and The Sun (our local newspaper).

Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts

The event was held at our new Museum, The Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts on Cypresswood Drive.

Speakers were Tim Novak, Pearl MFA; Nancy Decker, FACE; Nancy Agafitei, Barbara Bush Library and yours truly, Artist, and Pearl Board Member.

Not sure exactly  how many attended but we had a full house in the lobby area of the museum with many staying to go through the current exhibition.  It was a very nice turnout of our area small business owners.

The purpose was to get the word out to the small business community about the enormous positive economic impact that the arts has on our community.  We are so blessed to have so many fine visual and performing arts organizations and venues right here in Northwest Houston.  Some of the finest upcoming artists in both visual and performing arts are being educated right her within our public and private educational institutions.  My husband, Tom, and I have often called this area an “incubator”, if you will, for the arts.

We urged the businesses to support the arts  in whatever way they can, whether through in-kind or financial support.  Support of the arts is support for a growing and thriving community – which we are.  The community is enriched through the very existence of these organizations and venues.  They are the customers and consumers of products which our businesses provide.

As a serious artist, the existence of such a venue as the Pearl in our community raises the awareness of fine art that can be accessed without trips to the Museum District of Houston.  That awareness translates to the works that are being produced by the serious artists in our area and elevates appreciation for our work as well.

I had a number of people come up to me after-wards and tell me how much they appreciated what I had related in my portion of the presentation and the excitement and appreciation that I was able to generate.  The most heartwarming was from a young man who told me what the arts had meant to him during his education and that he was very appreciative of my talking to the business owners about the importance of supporting the arts within the educational institutions.

And that, my friends, made it all worthwhile!