RECOMMENDATION #16

Create a plan for presenting a recurring schedule of culturally inclusive art exhibits at Lewisville Grand Theater.

Lewisville Grand Theater is able to accommodate multi-work art exhibits in three spaces – the main Art Gallery, the North Corridor Gallery, and display cases in the lobby. Each of those spaces is scheduled year-round with Visual Arts League shows, local artists, LISD student art shows, and special exhibits. One of those special exhibits is the Committee to Commemorate MLK Jr. Day show held each January.

Current scheduling in those three spaces allow up to two recurring exhibitions focused on culturally inclusive art, with at least one of these shows being held in the main Art Gallery most years.

Gallery shows are generally on view to the public for about four calendar weeks, with several days for installation before opening and two days for removal and gallery reset before the next show loads in. The gallery is scheduled for four Lewisville ISD student shows each spring (February-May) and the Visual Art League of Lewisville Fresh Ideas show each June.

Lewisville Grand staff will seek community input on scheduling and selection of additional exhibits featuring culturally inclusive art. This process will start with the Arts Advisory Board before the end of the 2020 calendar year. The proposed 2020-21 budget does not include funding for additional art exhibits presented by the City, so new exhibitions either will have to incur minimal costs or be deferred until the 2021-22 budget year.

Staff also will monitor artists selected for the chalk art walks in the Grand lobby to ensure that cultural diversity is observed in these quarterly works.

The Arts Advisory Board will be encouraged to make inclusivity a grading criterion in awarding art grants, and to consider inclusivity when setting the annual Public Art Master Plan (which does call for a Chin-focused sculpture next fiscal year).

Status: Ongoing

Completed Actions

• This standard has successfully been applied to exhibitions at Lewisville Grand Theater, the Poet Laureate initiative, and the Public Art Program. This is an ongoing effort.