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ABOUT US

TXARTS.net supports Texas non-profit arts and cultural organizations by providing them with a place to publish their web site for free. This service extends to non-profit statewide service organizations that support the non-profit arts and cultural organizations in Texas.

TXARTS.net was established on the heals of the successful Texas Cultural and Arts Network, a project of the Texas Commission on the Arts. It is a collaborative project between the Community Resource Center, a project of the Metropolitan Austin Interactive Network and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA)

The state agency charged with the development of a receptive climate for the arts in Texas. The Commission serves constituents in each of the six artistic disciplines (visual arts, theatre, dance, music, media and literature) as well as local arts agencies. For 30 years, TCA has accomplished its mission by providing grants, information, and technical assistance to artists, arts organizations and the general public.

Texas Cultural and Arts Network (TCAnet)

A comprehensive computer network on the Internet operated by the Texas Commission on the Arts as a means of meeting its mandate of "Developing a Receptive Climate for the Arts in Texas." TCAnet is intended as a one-stop location whose purpose it is to shepherd the arts and cultural industry in the state to doing business electronically. Through its World Wide Web interface, TCAnet is available to the people of Texas, the nation, and the world.

Metropolitan Austin Interactive Network (MAIN)

Offers a wide range of community information sources, covering areas as diverse as education, performing arts, social services, science, law, medicine, and government. MAIN is a non-profit organization of volunteers which brings community information to the Greater Metropolitan Austin area electronically.

Through a grant by the Texas State Library, MAIN put Internet access terminals in 26 rural Texas libraries. This project formed the basis of the newly established Community Resource Center.

Community Resource Center (CRC)

The Texas Community Resource Center (CRC) project is a non-profit program created to advocate and help develop benefits of Internet technology for Texas communities, especially those communities in rural and underserved areas.

The fundamental CRC objective is encouragement and support for locally directed Internet projects in Texas; the primary strategy is using the many resources already available from public and private organizations, supplementing those existing resources, where needed, with planning and consulting services as well as financial support.

TXARTS.net is the first in a series of collaborative projects by the CRC. In the wake of diminishing federal support for the arts, TXARTS.net is the next logical step in addressing the economic woes of arts and cultural organizations in Texas. The CRC places a high priority on leveraging its resources, with those of other organizations, to achieve a common goal.

TCA’s leadership recognized an opportunity, through the efforts of the CRC, to effectively extend their economic development mission. With an already established network of local arts agencies in the state, TCA demonstrated they have the resources to deliver appropriate outreach and support for the project.

The CRC has the necessary equipment and infrastructure to support a project of this scope. Combined with its experience in supporting non-profit web publishing and rural infrastructure development, the CRC demonstrated its ability to deliver these much needed services.

Together, TCA and CRC have the resources needed to ensure TXARTS.net is a success.