What: Texas Women for the Arts 13th Annual Meeting
Where: Cultural institutions and private homes around Fort Worth
The 411: Members of Texas Women for the Arts gathered in Fort Worth from all corners of the Lone Star State to award grants and celebrate arts education in Texas.
While in town, they boot-scooted across the city's cultural institutions, including the Museum District museums and Artspace 111. They also met at the private homes of some of Fort Worth's most ardent arts supporters, including Beverly and John Snyder, Kit and Charlie Moncrief, Anne and John Marion, and Martha Hyder.
The three-day event was chaired by Jill Fortney, Janis Brous, and Charlotte Tripplehorn. Fort Worth mayor Betsy Price welcomed guests, and entertainment was provided by dancers of Texas Ballet Theater, Texas Boys Choir, Miss Devon and the Outlaw, and artist David Bates.
The organization, a program of the Texas Cultural Trust, selected 25 arts programs across the state to receive more than $278,000 in grants this year. Dallas-Fort Worth recipients were The Cliburn ($15,000), Creative Arts Center of Dallas ($10,000), Big Thought, Dallas ($2,000), and Texas Boys Choir ($2,000). United in supporting arts education programs across the state, the members' mission is to nurture Texas children's appreciation of and development in the arts.
“Since its inception in 2005, Texas Women for the Arts has awarded more than $2.2 million to more than 180 arts organizations across Texas, and we are honored to continue this legacy in 2018,” Heidi Marquez Smith, executive director of Texas Cultural Trust, says in a release.
During an evening reception at the home of Martha Hyder, the organization recognized Gene Chambers Jones with the eighth annual Champion of the Arts Award for her continued support, promotion, and generosity for culture in the state of Texas. A Texas Cultural Trust board member since 2007 and founding member of Texas Women for the Arts, Gene and her daughter, Charlotte Jones Anderson, were 2013 recipients of the Texas Medal of Arts Award.
“I am deeply touched and honored to even be considered for this recognition,” Jones says in a release. “It is a joy for me to be associated with a group of people that are so committed to the development and promotion of the arts."
Who: Nancy Dedman, Patty Dedman Neil, Michelle Nussbaumer, Marsland Moncrief, Teresa Hubbard, Jessica Karlsruher, Lisa Ivie Miller, Karen Foster, Isha Rogers, Linda Gibbons, Sharon McCullough, Patsy Donosky, Margery Gossett, and Katherine Grella.
Margery Gossett, Katherine Grella
Fort Worth mayor Mattie Parker and Ed Bass at the Grand Entry Gala. Photo by Canon Sawyer, Canon Elizabeth Photography 
Panther City BBQ at The Ring of Fire event at 2025 Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival. Photo by Cristina Tapia 
Cliburn medalists Aristo Sham (left), Evren Ozel, and Vitaly Starikov watch the fireworks at the Cliburn Winners Celebration in Sundance Square. Photo by Brandon Wade 
Connie Beck, Quynh Lu, Garrick Ohlsson, Mercedes T. Bass, J. Brooks, Lee Hallman at the Fort Worth Symphony Gala. Photo by Jill Johnson 