88R33017 BK-D
By: Ashby H.R. No. 2402
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The Texas Commission on the Arts has announced the
2023 appointments for State Poet Laureate, State Musician, State
Two-Dimensional Artist, and State Three-Dimensional Artist; and
WHEREAS, The state's highest accolade for excellence in the
arts, designation as a Texas State Artist is conferred on those
individuals who represent the best of our rich and diverse artistic
community and who inspire others through their unique creative
expression; and
WHEREAS, The 2023 State Poet Laureate is ire'ne Lara Silva;
she is the author of two full-length poetry collections, furia and
Blood Sugar Canto, that were both finalists for the International
Latino Book Award in Poetry; her most recent poetry collection,
CUICACALLI/House of Song, was a finalist for the Texas Institute of
Letters Poetry Prize, and she has also published three chapbooks
and a short story collection, flesh to bone, that won the 2013
Premio Aztlan and was named a runner-up for the 2014 NACCS Tejas
Foco Award in Fiction; the recipient of a number of grants and
literary awards, she had the distinction of being inducted as a
member of the Texas Institute of Letters in 2020; her poetry, short
stories, and essays have appeared in more than 70 journals and
anthologies, and she currently serves as a writer at large for Texas
Highways magazine; and
WHEREAS, Gary Clark Jr., the 2023 State Musician, achieved
critical acclaim with his debut album Blak and Blu, where he
introduced his brand of blues rock that would gradually transform
into a fusion of contemporary funk, rock, and hip hop; the
Austin-born singer-songwriter won a Grammy Award for his top-10 hit
"Please Come Home," and he later scored three more Grammy wins,
including Best Contemporary Blues Album, for his politically
charged fifth studio album This Land and its title track; he has
earned a reputation as a soulful live performer, and in addition to
touring with the Rolling Stones and the Foo Fighters and
collaborating with recording artists like Alicia Keys and Childish
Gambino, he has played alongside Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, and other
well-known musicians for tributes to Stevie Wonder and the Beatles;
and
WHEREAS, Painter Gaspar Enriquez is the 2023 State
Two-Dimensional Artist; after growing up in El Paso's Segundo
Barrio, he made his living as an art educator while developing a
body of work primarily composed of acrylic, air-brushed portraits
of individuals who typify the Chicano community in which he was
raised; his paintings have been featured at the El Paso Museum of
Art, the Tucson Museum of Art, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library,
the de Young Museum in San Francisco, and the San Antonio Convention
Center, where he was commissioned to paint a 24-foot-tall piece
titled cholos; he has had a profound impact on many students
throughout his career as an educator, and he has been an inspiration
for nationally recognized artists such as Vincent Valdez and Alex
Rubio; and
WHEREAS, James C. Watkins, who has been exhibiting his work
as a ceramic artist for over four decades, has been named the 2023
State Three-Dimensional Artist; best known for his large,
double-walled stoneware vessels, he has experimented with
alternative firing techniques to craft black pottery with varying
tones and depth; his work is represented in a number of notable
collections, including the White House Collection of American
Crafts at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in
Little Rock, Arkansas, the Shigaraki Institute of Ceramic Studies
in Japan, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; he
was named a Horn Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Texas Tech
University, and he has received the Texas Tech President's
Excellence in Teaching Award; and
WHEREAS, The artists who have been selected to hold these
prestigious posts have all greatly contributed to the vibrant
cultural life of the Lone Star State, and Texas is indeed fortunate
to be home to these talented individuals; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas
Legislature hereby congratulate the 2023 Texas Commission on the
Arts honorees and extend to them sincere best wishes for continued
fulfillment in their creative endeavors.