‘We grow around art and culture’: City of Bryan invests in local art scene
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Painting a picture of growth for the City of Bryan now includes an Arts and Culture Development Grant for artsy small businesses.
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Dary Dega owns DeGallery, an art gallery in Bryan. After other artsy small businesses in the area closed their doors, she decided to take action.
“I’m really surprised that I appreciate we have people who can hear us and who are happy to support us and this is just the first step,” she said.
She reached out to the cities of Bryan and College Station to discuss avenues to help local artists keep their doors open. Her advocacy paid off, and the City of Bryan recently announced an Arts and Culture Development Grant for local projects and programs in the arts.
“What’s defined who we are, really, is our locally owned mom-and-pop businesses,” deputy city manager Joey Dunn said.
According to Dunn, the grant could help grow Bryan’s tourism base alongside sporting events, creating more reasons for people to pay a visit to Bryan.
“That’s an element that we have had in our community, but we just haven’t promoted, I don’t think, enough. We want to grow that industry here,” he said.
Dega added that the city took a big step in supporting the art community with the grant funding, but she says there’s still work to be done.
“It’s a huge deal for some small businesses to advertise themselves, and people can know and stop by,” she said, “And even I think any help, any one dollar for our business is a huge help.”
The artist agreed with Dunn that promoting the arts can help promote tourism, but she hopes to share the importance of the arts in our everyday lives.
“I remember my father. He played piano and accordion. My mom was singing. We grow around art and culture,” she expressed.
There’s $112,000 in total grant funding available for this fiscal year. The money for the grant comes from the Hotel Occupancy Tax.
The application closes on Jan. 12. The link to the application can be found here.
