Houston Grand Opera to Go Delights Local School Children

Arts for Rural Texas brought the Houston Grand Opera's "Opera to Go" to perform in local schools on March 24th and 25th. Over 1,300 children from La Grange Intermediate school, Hermes, Schulenburg Elementary, Weimar Elementary, St. Rose Catholic School, Fayetteville Elementary, Fayetteville Middle School and West End Elementary were treated to a performance of "The Princess and the Pea."

The young performers — 5 singers and an accompanist — played their parts with great animation and passion and had everyone totally engrossed in the production. At one point in the opera the lead singer went into the audience to sing, drawing excited responses from the children.

The Opera to Go two-day event was generously underwritten by Cheryl Mellenthin and Mark Chapman, who were in attendance at the second performance in Fayetteville. 

Jeanne Reavis Show Opens at Ross Gallery

A nice crowd gathered during the afternoon of March 12th at the Ross Gallery in Fayetteville to see the latest work of Jeanne Reavis. A consistent ArtWalk participant, Jeanne has a loyal following in the Fayette county area as well as in Houston, where she lives. Her popular landscape oils were well received, and can be seen through April 2nd. 


Jeanne's work will be on view again during ArtWalk 2011 on the Square in Fayetteville April 30th and May 1st.

The Art Guild of Rural Texas changes its name!

Hello, and welcome to the ARTS blog!

First order of business: change.

To better reflect the mission of our organization, the Board has changed our name to Arts for Rural Texas, or ARTS.

We have unveiled a new name, a new logo and a new web site.

We have instituted these changes to better reflect our mission, which is “to heighten the visual and performing arts experience in our rural communities with an emphasis on providing educational opportunities for children.”

We are making a concerted effort to let people of the area know what we really do. Founded in 2003, we have been augmenting school art programs in Fayette, Colorado and Austin counties with Art After School and Fine Art Assemblies. The Assemblies bring individual artists and groups, such as the Houston Grand Opera and Ballet Austin, to perform and teach in local schools. Summer Art Camps are
held annually for area school children. We also host art exhibitions, music events and film screenings. We sponsor ArtWalk, an annual outdoor art show which draws visitors from around the state to the Square in Fayetteville. ARTS is a 501(c)3 non-profit. Membership in Arts for Rural Texas is open to everyone.

To better communicate with our friends, volunteers and the audiences we serve, we have launched a new web site. Please check us out at: www.ArtsForRuralTexas.org

We’ve changed our name, but not our passion!

ARTS President Jeanne Schilling

To celebrate the name change and to unveil the new logo, we held a party in the back yard of the ARTS building. It was quite a night. ARTS President Jeanne Schilling addressed the group of around 175 people. Michael Stroup headed up a trio that played through the night.

ARTS co-founder Jeanette Brown

The original founders — Jeanette Brown, Michael Clann and Judge Terry Ross — of ARTS (back when it was called the Art Guild of Fayetteville) came out to meet the current volunteers and to share memories. Michael gave a bit of history to the group, and Jeanette thanked all those that have volunteered through the years.

Mike Stroup trio plays to the back yard audience.

Back porch conversations.