Participating Arts Organizations

AFA (American Festival for the Arts) was founded to break down the barriers that exist in music education. We value creativity, individuality, collaboration, and openness and strive to be a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community. We are an educational greenhouse where differing ideas, perspectives, and experiences take root and flourish.

AFA welcomes everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, or physical appearance. We acknowledge the impact of systemic racism, discrimination, and injustice in our community. The absence of bias is insufficient for a healthy organization, and we resolve to be intentionally anti-bias and anti-racist.

For over three decades, AFA has inspired thousands of Houstonians through music and will continue to evolve as an organization in order to remain impactful. Read more about the History of AFA.

Ars Lyrica Houston specializes in music from the Baroque era, the “golden age” of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as performed on period instruments with careful attention to historical style and context. Embracing a historically informed perspective,

Ars Lyrica Houston seeks to harness the continued vitality and expressive power of classical music to engage, educate, and entertain diverse audiences in Houston and around the world.

ARTreach is a Houston-based nonprofit that connects community partners with professional artists and volunteers to bring meaningful arts experiences to underserved youth, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. Through visual arts workshops and performing arts programs Books Alive! as well as other creative initiatives, ARTreach uses the arts as a powerful tool for literacy, healing, and personal expression. By collaborating with schools, community organizations, and cultural institutions, ARTreach helps ensure that the transformative power of the arts is accessible to all.

The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Houston is the diplomatic mission representing South Korea across its five-state jurisdiction: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Founded in 1976 by George Hawkins and inspired by the African American Theatre movement of the 1960s and 70s, The Ensemble Theatre serves a diverse, multicultural audience. Its programming includes a six-play mainstage season, expanded artistic projects, and extensive educational initiatives reaching thousands of youth through performances, workshops, and artist-in-residence experiences.

The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Houston is a non-profit opera company dedicated to preserving and sharing the delightful legacy of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas. Established in 1952, it is Houston’s oldest opera company.  As an internationally award-winning stalwart of the arts community, our Society prides itself on presenting shows of the highest artistic caliber, where up-and-coming young artists perform alongside seasoned professionals. We also encourage students pursuing performance, having awarded over $125,000 in scholarships.

Harris County Public Library (HCPL) enriches lives to strengthen communities. HCPL has an annual circulation of nearly 14 million items and consistently ranks in the top ten worldwide for digital circulation. HCPL is a network of 27 community-focused branch libraries offering programs and services that nurture literacy and lifelong learning for all ages. HCPL was awarded the 2024 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation's highest honor for libraries. The library is committed to providing excellent customer service, strong collections, and cutting-edge information technology for the 21st Century. 

Houston Contemporary Dance Company (HCDC) is a fresh, impactful arts organization whose mission is to ignite passion for contemporary dance by providing world-class professional repertory concert performances and community engagement activities that are accessible to all regardless of race, culture, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, or nationality.

Houston’s Cultural Districts (HCDs) collectively represent a cross-section of the diverse neighborhoods and arts experiences that make Houston unique. While each district has its distinct identity, function, and goal, all of them utilize art and culture to educate, entertain, and enhance the quality of life. Moreover, they play a crucial role in supporting our community and city economy.

Collectively the Cultural Districts share a desire to preserve, strengthen, and sustain their districts. This, in turn, will attract investment, economic growth, and creative/cultural engagement — not only to the Cultural Districts, but for the arts across Houston.

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HouArts in Action is a collaborative, community-led, region-wide initiative designed to strengthen Greater Houston’s arts and culture sector through strategic advocacy, expanded partnerships, and unified messaging. This initiative, supported by Houston Endowment and Houston’s Cultural Districts, is an effort to build champions for arts and culture in the Greater Houston Area.

HSPVA Friends is the 501(c)(3) non-profit partner of HISD’s Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Kinder HSPVA). Thanks to hundreds of generous donors, HSPVA Friends provides the budget for the arts curriculum, bridging the gap between public funding and the needs of a rigorous, conservatory-style arts program.

Since 1978, HSPVA Friends has collaborated with the school to achieve a shared vision: offering the highest quality tuition-free arts education to students from all across Houston. By providing dependable financial and program support year after year, HSPVA Friends has enabled Kinder HSPVA to remain at the forefront of public arts education in an increasingly competitive national field.

[Jk]creativ is a multidisciplinary creativ company developing purpose-driven and truth-seeking cultural works. Through myriad creativ initiatives – from visual design to live performance; discussion groups to serving the unhoused – the company is redefining how the arts and creatives are engaged as agents of change within communities.

Japan-America Society of Houston (JASH) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the friendship and understanding between the United States and Japan. Through cultural programs, educational initiatives, business engagement, and community events, JASH serves as a bridge connecting the people and cultures of Japan and the Greater Houston region. For more than 50 years, the organization has fostered meaningful exchange and collaboration, helping to deepen the strong ties between our two communities.

Mercury was started by four friends in the year 2000 as an intimate chamber ensemble with the goal to enrich and entertain Houston audiences with an exciting repertoire of music performed on period instruments.

What began as a grassroots effort over lunch at a local restaurant has blossomed into a lively chamber orchestra beloved by the community. In 2013, Mercury rebranded and expanded its repertoire to include works outside of the Baroque period.  In this evolution, the goal remains the same—bringing music to life and to people across Houston and beyond.

Mercury continues to receive critical and audience acclaim for innovative and welcoming performances, while also impacting the lives of young Houstonians through award-winning music education programs.

Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective is a professional dance company that creates and supports multigenerational cultural arts and educational initiatives. Founded in 2018 by Stacey Allen, the company engages communities through performance and arts education across Texas.

OAEC is a comprehensive arts education center with a primary focus on dance that offers courses in dance, vocal music, instrumental music, theater, fine arts, and modeling.

OAEC currently has three campuses. The main campus, established in 2010, is located in the southwest of Houston. Subsequently, the Sugar Land and Katy campuses were opened, offering convenient transportation, elegant environments, and fully equipped facilities.

OAEC’s teaching method is unique in its blend of Eastern and Western styles—particularly in choreography—to create many outstanding pieces. OAEC’s exceptional stage presentations and remarkable teaching achievements earned the Nexstar National Championship’s “Excellence in Choreographer Award” and “Best Dance Studio 2024”, YAGP Houston’s “Outstanding Dance School 2025”, and the StarQuest World Final’s “Studio of Excellence 2025” honor again!

Whatever the struggle, the ache, restlessness or the big question, the solution is always to do one manageable thing. Today, it might be to step out into the sunshine. Tomorrow, it might be telling a story while stretching your legs. Soon, you will be hiking, ticking off the miles and milestones without ever gasping for breath.

This is how Urban Paths began – with one woman walking through big transitions and realizing that she was on the road to a whole new life. Today, through Urban Paths, walking wellness coach Laura Conely guides clients of all ages, abilities and fitness levels to take their own first (and fiftieth and 5,000th) steps.

Urban Souls Dance Company is a modern dance company founded by Harrison Guy in 2004. Through expressive movement and intentional storytelling, the company creates powerful works that explore blackness, culture, and the human experience, while fostering artistic growth, collaboration, and meaningful community building through performance and education.

Our Story, Our Beliefs

Storytelling reveals our truest selves. Since 1983, Writers in the Schools (WITS) has worked hand-in-hand with educators and professional writers to teach students the craft of writing. WITS is transforming the hearts and minds of young people all over Houston.

Creativity prepares children for the future. Witness the way over 65,000 students and educators in over 400 Houston classrooms plant their own stories each year, and discover the WITS magic that’s cultivated every day when students, writers, WITS staff and community members join together.