By Elizabeth Brannon
There’s a new kid on the block and we can’t wait to work with her and enjoy the fruits of her talent, focus, experience and passion.
In late December 2021, Flower Mound hired the new Community and Cultural Events Manager, Tish Carter.
Tish is a performer, an art educator and director level administrative talent. She has extensive experience with public art, grants administration, music, dance and managing arts and cultural programs for academic institutions, government agencies and arts organizations. Her resume is massive and impressive and she brings a unique and in-depth talent to Flower Mound. Tish is an artist who supports initiatives that bring together art makers, cultural organizations, institutions and agencies to shape policies related to the arts.
As Flower Mound matures with art programs, Tish will be a perfect person to lead the charge. Tish acknowledges there was a great foundation already here in Flower Mound and with that foundation, the Arts Master Plan and Tish’s experience and energy, the future looks extremely bright for Flower Mound.
In one month on the job, Tish jumped in and made progress immediately. Meeting with a small committee from the Cultural Arts Commission, Tish spearheaded the selection of the next several artists who will have their works displayed on the Flower Mound Town Hall Art Wall in 2022. Works have been submitted from all ages of artists.
Tish was recently signing contracts with vendors to participate in the Arts Festival at Heritage Park on Saturday, May 7. The inaugural event in May 2021 was Art in the Park, and Tish is looking to build on the foundation established last year and make it bigger and more uniquely Flower Mound for 2022, including adding diverse dance groups.
Tish is investigating the Community Mural program for this spring and is reaching out to artists to participate in the Arts Festival. This year, there will be more music to accompany the festival events and provide another type of live art.
Chalk the Walk events will continue this spring and fall, as they are very popular with the chalk artists as well as their families and the community.
Local artists have submitted designs for the next three traffic signal boxes that will be wrapped in 2022. A committee will work with Tish to select the newest public artists for Flower Mound.
Tish will be working on the new Story Board project. Each page of a story book will be displayed in a local park, along with activities that support the story. More details will be announced later, but this is an exciting new event for Flower Mound families to enjoy. Flower Mound received a grant for this project that will become a reality this spring. The story boards will be changed several times during a year.
Tish has a BA/MA in Education, Dance, Interdisciplinary Arts and Cultural Geography. She has received grants for her art studies and was awarded a fellowship from Harvard University to study the research-based Visual Thinking Strategies method that focuses on improving the quality of life in cities and urban environments through arts and cultural programs, recreational initiatives, community gardens and green spaces. Tish has worked across the USA and in numerous countries and continents.
Tish plans to strengthen and build a social community with and through the arts by creating new programs and building on the programs the town supported last year. She is committed to meeting local artists, including students and educators, to help enrich the arts program here. Tish believes in empowering and engaging people through the arts. Her experiences, skills, talents and passion all but ensure Tish and the residents of Flower Mound will share in those engaging times to create rich programs and experiences in our town.
Welcome, Tish! We’re glad to have you call Flower Mound your arts home.
Art Thoughts: “Now, more than ever, art is needed and yes, I believe the arts matter because they are the record of our civilization and the arrow pointing towards our future. Just as the medical sciences are devoted to extending and enhancing the quality of life, the arts help us to understand the essential reasons for that life, the deeper values, visions and commitments that sustain our will to live and enhance the wellbeing of the human spirit. I look forward to a continued career in the arts in which I can work closely with diverse communities through creative projects that engage, heal and transform our global landscape.” – Tish Carter
Elizabeth Brannon serves on the Flower Mound Cultural Arts Commission.
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