Cultural Treasure Accelerator
Meet the 2025 Houston Cultural Accelerator Awardees
Art in the Heart
Art in the Heart fosters a vibrant and united Houston through transformative art, empowering individuals across generations. They are committed to ensuring every child has access to art and serve as a beacon of creativity in Northeast Houston. Its mission is to break barriers, foster unity, drive community impact, promote wellness through art, and champion cultural interactions.
Black Arts Movement
A new organization building upon and housing the ongoing work of Urban Souls Dance Company, the Black Arts Movement (BAM) is a cultural catalyst and a sanctuary for Black artists in Houston. BAM is pioneering the establishment of a cultural, arts, history, and performance complex that will serve as a platform to showcase, honor, and celebrate Black Houston.
Dance Afrikana
Dance Afrikana is a professional dance company dedicated to connecting and celebrating Africa and the African Diaspora through dance. Dance connects us to our ancestors, to ourselves, and to each other. Dance Afrikana is creating a world where people of the African Diaspora are empowered through the African dance tradition, a space to grow artistically and culturally.
Diaz Music Institute
Diaz Music Institute (DMI) creates opportunities through music education for all children, especially at-risk Latinx and children of color of any income, with the potential to develop a professional music career. By uplifting the voices of young people, DMI empowers these independent creative artists to sculpt their futures.
Filipino Young Professionals of Houston
FYP’s mission is to share Filipino culture, empower each other through philanthropy and service, and connect our community. FYP Houston is a hub through which our Filipino community uplifts one another and shares the vibrant Filipino culture throughout the region.
Galveston Heritage Chorale
Galveston Heritage Chorale preserves and promotes the choral renditions of African American folk songs called Spirituals. These first American folk songs, with the outgrowth of the Blues from these slave moanings, are the authentic beginnings of American music. We engage people of all backgrounds in the performance of music that will unite, enlighten, and educate everyone.
Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy
Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy’ preserves the historic and inspiring legacy of Freedmen’s Town through education and awareness of its unique story. We secure the future of Houston’s one-of-a-kind heritage district by cultivating its economic potential, protecting our legacy, preserving our past, educating our city, and engaging our world.
Houston Latino Film Festival
The Houston Latino Film Festival (HLFF) educates and enlightens the communities of South Texas about Latino culture and issues through film and video while also recognizing the contributions of the artists dedicated to filmmaking. HLFF brings Latino/x-focused, independent, global cinema to a broad audience of Houstonians and visitors.
Islamic Arts Society
Islamic Arts Society shares the rich heritage of Islamic Arts in Houston, celebrating our culture and promoting a positive image of the Muslim community. Art is a common language that binds diverse communities, generating mutual understanding and bringing the broader Houston community together.
Jazz Houston
Jazz Houston promotes the cultivation and appreciation of jazz music through performance, education, and community outreach for music lovers of all ages. Jazz Houston mobilizes adult and youth orchestras in creative service to bring educational experiences in jazz music to libraries, hospitals, museums, and other community spaces.
Society for Africans in Diaspora (SAiD Institute)
The SAiD Institute empowers and elevates the African Diaspora through arts, education, and community engagement. We create transformative environments advocating social and racial justice, economic growth, youth education and empowerment, and community development. The arts and culture of the Diaspora are formidable catalysts for societal transformation and unity.
Segundo Barrio Children’s Chorus
Houston’s first and only Spanish-language, bilingual children’s choir, Segundo Barrio Children’s Chorus (SBCC), enriches the lives of children and families through music and arts education, coupled with transformative performance opportunities at community events throughout the East End and more excellent Houston. Our programming builds community and increases Latinx and BIPOC representation and inclusivity in Houston’s Arts and Culture Landscape.
Social Movement Contemporary Dance Theater
Social Movement Contemporary Dance Theater (SMCDT) promotes social consciousness by expressing the breadth and depth of the human condition through dance and storytelling. It performs original work, provides educational programming, and collaborates with artists and organizations that address the cultural boundaries, limitations, and expectations of the human experience.
Texas Salsa Congress
The Texas Salsa Congress’ (TSC) highlights and fosters the immense and varied talent within the local, national, and international Latin dance community through the curation of exhibitions, workshops, musical clinics, and more, providing a platform to spotlight Houston and its diverse urban culture and talent in the state Texas and beyond.
The Nigerian-American Multicultural Council
The Nigerian-American Multicultural Council (NAMC) builds a unified, vibrant, and empowered community of Nigerians and Americans that promotes excellence in career and business, expands horizons through education, mentorship, and civic engagement, and shares the richness of Nigerian and African arts and culture. NAMC’s four core programmatic themes comprise cultural enrichment, professional development, education and mentorship, and civic engagement.
Write About Now Poetry
Write About Now (WAN) builds community through a diverse and inclusive platform where poetry is created, shared, and celebrated in Houston and worldwide. At the intersection of education, entertainment, and technology, we host writing workshops, curate live weekly poetry shows that steam to thousands of online viewers, and reach an audience of millions worldwide through publications.
Which organizations were eligible to apply?
Applicants had to meet all of these eligibility criteria to be considered
- BIPOC History and Leadership – Founded, led by, and serving Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander, and/or other communities of color
- BIPOC Focus – A strategic focus on stewarding and sustaining artistic and/or cultural traditions rooted in a specific/defined community of color and elevating awareness of that community’s contribution to regional culture
- History of Community Impact – A demonstrated history of supporting and engaging with their specified or defined community of color
- BIPOC Cultural Legacies – A recognized source of inspiration, support, and/or contribution to the history, culture, vibrancy, and identity of BIPOC artists and residents of Greater Houston
- Arts & Culture and/or Arts Education Focus
- A history of and a focus on the creation, presentation, and/or production of arts and culture; and/or
- A history of arts education programming that advocates for and has demonstrated BIPOC Student Success;
- 501c3 Entities and Tribal Communities, or
- Fiscally Sponsored projects actively pursuing 501c3 status within the next three (3) years.
- Organizational Capacity – Dedicated leadership (paid or unpaid) and a support team to build long-term resiliency and success
- Organization must be located and serve the 9-County Region of Greater Houston
9-county region: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller Counties.