ABOUT THE AWARD

Background

In 1983 Art League Houston (ALH) created the Texas Artist of the Year award as a dynamic and informative annual project documenting Texas art history. In 1989 ALH added the Texas Patron of the Year award. Through this project, tributeis paid to outstanding members of the visual art community. The awards provide an incentive to artists to demonstrate excellence in visual arts and recognize the important impact of patrons in supporting visual arts. The awards also serve to educate the public on the importance of excellence in the field of art and the impact that patrons have in promoting excellence in art. Art League Houston sponsors an exhibition by the artist and recognizes the artist throughoutthe year. Since its inception, twenty-six outstanding artists and eight exceptional patrons have received the distinction of Texas Artist of the Year or Texas Patrons of the Year. The Texas Artist of the Year award is given to an individual artist or to two or more artists that work in collaboration to produce artwork.

Members of the Art League Houston Board of Directors and volunteer art professionals recommend and review candidates annually to select the artist whose qualifications best meet the selection criteria.

 

Texas Artist of the Year Criteria

The Texas Artist of the Year Committee considers nominations of artists varying in style, technique, media and imagery. To qualify for the Texas Artist of the Year Award, an Artist must comply with a number of criteria, including:

• 
Artist's professional career as an artist shall span more than twenty years
 
 
• 
Artist shall be over the age of 45
 
 
• 
Artist shall have works in the permanent collection of one or more museums, universities or colleges
 
 
• 
Artist shall have been published in one or more books, periodicals, reviews, etc.
 
 
• 
Artist shall have been included in one or more of the following: an invitational museum show, a university or college exhibition, and/or art organization exhibition (other than Art League Houston)
 
 
• 
Artist's principal residence shall be in the state of Texas for the past five years
 
 
• 
Artist should have donated services or skills to the community, state, or have been a teacher, lecturer, demonstrator