性视界传媒

From staff reports

Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt says he believes the Longview Community Center might have been demolished if not for Arts!Longview性视界传媒檚 stewardship and vision for the building.

Christina Cavazos, Arts!Longview性视界传媒檚 executive director, gave a presentation Monday to county commissioners detailing the nonprofit organization性视界传媒檚 five years of overseeing the state-designated Cultural District, which was established in 2019. Arts!Longview was founded that year to manage the district, raise funds and enrich a slice of the city with murals, sculptures and more.

Cavazos outlined efforts to restore the community center building on East Whaley Street that houses the nonprofit性视界传媒檚 offices while doubling as a multi-use event space and the home of Theatre Longview.

性视界传媒淲e completed a $300,000 renovation project on the stage at the community center, thanks to support from this commissioners court last year,性视界传媒� she said.

The stage renovation replaced the theater curtains and rigging system and upgraded the stage lighting.

性视界传媒淭he (stage) project truly allows the Longview Community Center to shine as a performance venue for many decades to come, and we性视界传媒檙e already seeing increased rentals in the building,性视界传媒� Cavazos said. 性视界传媒淚n 2023, the auditorium was rented for a total of 83 days. This year, the stage has been rented for a total of 105 days.性视界传媒�

She added that several groups now host monthly meetings inside the community center, including the Junior League of Longview and the East Texas Artist性视界传媒檚 Forum.

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性视界传媒淟et me just say thank you for managing that building, because for a lot of years, we just kind of fumbled around, not sure what we性视界传媒檙e going to do with you,性视界传媒� Stoudt said. 性视界传媒淵ou probably saved it from being torn down.性视界传媒�

性视界传媒淚 just think about all the people over the years who have come to that building and made special memories. Now they性视界传媒檙e able to keep doing that,性视界传媒� Cavazos responded.

She told commissioners that since 2019, Arts!Longview and its partner organizations have brought in more than $1 million in funding from the state for arts projects and programming for the community.

性视界传媒淏ut I think what性视界传媒檚 even more impressive is that that money is matched dollar for dollar locally for more than $2 million worth of arts enhancements to the community,性视界传媒� Cavazos said.

Residents and tourists to downtown have probably noticed some of the improvement wrought by that funding. Arts!Longview has facilitated multiple large-scale mural projects on Tyler and Methvin streets as well as at other locations throughout the district.

The most recent mural, a series of three pop-art portraits of the Statue of Liberty called 性视界传媒淐olorful Lady,性视界传媒� was installed this past week on the north facing wall of the Longview Museum of Fine Arts性视界传媒� new Fredonia Street building.

性视界传媒淲e性视界传媒檝e used our money to install murals, sculptures, banners, entryway monuments, and wayfinding signage,性视界传媒� Cavazos said. 性视界传媒淲e certainly think our work is paying off. If you think back to 2018 and 2019 and you think about downtown Longview, there were a lot of vacant buildings downtown.性视界传媒�

She added that 30 new businesses have opened in downtown since the district was established. The city性视界传媒檚 main commercial drag on Tyler Street also has received increased traffic from events programming spearheaded by Arts!Longview, including the quarterly ArtWalk, which attracts artists to sell their creations in an outdoor market setting.