Texas Tribune’s TribFest brings arts and nonprofits into the fold
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Arts are an essential ingredient for people and communities to thrive and deserve space in discussions about public policy, said Houston Endowment President and CEO Elisa Villanueva Beard Friday at the 2026 Texas Tribune Festival, which brought together some of the nation’s most inspiring thinkers, leaders, and innovators.
“I think that it's important for this conversation to be happening here right now because it helps to shape how people think about arts and culture, and what it does for our communities, and what it means when we don't invest or we don't prioritize,” said Villanueva Beard. “Humans need to flourish. And part of the equation of flourishing is the variable of connection, and belonging, and seeing yourselves and your story in the place where you live — where you are attached to place, and people, and different experiences.”
Villanueva Beard joined Erin Harkey, CEO of Americans for the Arts, and Octavio Quintanilla, poet and professor at Our Lady of the Lake University, for the panel discussion “What Art Builds,” which explored how creativity holds communities together and the impact of losing public investment and support for the arts.
Villanueva Beard said using data and storytelling to elevate the impact of the arts to policymakers is critical to ensuring arts is funded at levels that allow organizations and artists to not only sustain their work, but to grow it. She cited Houston Endowment’s support of HouArts(opens in new window) in Action, which brings together Houston’s seven cultural districts to advocate for the sector.
“We helped fund the seven cultural districts to come together to figure out, How do you collaborate? What is there to learn from that? How do you share data? How do you figure out what is the message? How are we telling our story that is relevant to government, philanthropy, and others?” said Villanueva Beard.
Common Good Corner
Houston Endowment also hosted the Common Good Corner at TribFest, a lounge where nonprofit and foundation professionals could connect with others about their work and the sector as a whole. The lounge included an appearance by the Inprint Poetry Buskers(opens in new window), who wrote free personalized poems for attendees using typewriters and quick wit in reaction to requested prompts. Here's what they wrote for us when prompted with our founder, Jesse H. Jones:
Gratitude for Jesse Jones
Thank you, Mr. Houston,
For helping the human spirit
roost in the bayou-twisted
city, and thank you, too
for raising the wind on which
its wings may soar, a Phoenix
shining across the sky,
trailing its tail of flames.
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