How Frisco Arts Foundation is Cultivating a Thriving Cultural Landscape
By Yvonne Brown
In Frisco, our nickname is ‘Sports City USA,’ but the presence of the arts scene in all shapes and forms around the city is truly impressive. Creative sculptures and structures adorn our parks and recreation areas. A stroll around The Rail District reveals several once-off commissioned murals. In addition to diverse music and performance offerings, our calendar is packed with local events where residents can fully embrace and observe the artistic talent within our community.
Top that with the fact that during the 2023-24 school year, 78% of middle school students and 51% of high school students were enrolled in fine arts. There is no doubt an appetite for the arts in this city must be maintained, nurtured, and developed for many generations to come.
One of the organizations at the heart of raising the profile of the local arts community is the Frisco Arts Foundation (FAF). Established in 1996 by city and business leaders, the foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization responsible for championing the arts through advocacy, education, and grant-making. It believes a thriving arts and culture experience can drive innovation, economic growth, and community impact.
Karen White, an eighteen-year Frisco resident and longtime supporter and advocate of the arts, is the current Chairperson of the Frisco Arts Foundation. A recipient of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce 2023 “Champion of the Arts” award, she embraces opportunity and makes it a priority to engage and collaborate with the business community and the City of Frisco on arts initiatives and cultural events throughout the community.
Ms. White relocated to Frisco to take a human resource (HR) executive role, but after twenty years in the corporate world, she decided to change direction and launch her own art and e-commerce business named Oasis Accents. After seven successful years in a brick-and-mortar store in Frisco, today, she works with local customers curating and designing interior spaces and selling artwork nationally from her extensive online catalog.
She attributes her love for the arts and community service to her parents (from Barbados and Guyana) while being raised in a West Indian household in Brooklyn, New York. “While my parents are no longer with me, they taught me lessons of a lifetime. Growing up, I was exposed to many different art forms and encouraged to explore the arts. At an early age, my parents would often play calypso, classical, and opera music, music that my peers weren’t listening to. I sang in the church choir for ten years, and I took lessons in dance and piano,” Ms. White recalls.
Oasis Accents grew to become the largest art gallery in Frisco, showcasing original artwork from over 25 artists. Given her passion for the arts, Karen was excited to get involved with the Frisco Arts Foundation, including attending and sponsoring events like Ladies Who Launch and the Annual Frisco 5K Walk & Run. Immersed in the arts community, she was excited to be considered and elected to the Board of Directors in June 2022 and, just a year later, was elected as Chairperson.
“My dad instilled in me the importance of serving in my community. When I opened Oasis Accents, he encouraged me to sell more black artwork. When he passed, I was honored to establish an art contest for black artists in his name.”
Ms. White leads a board of directors at the Frisco Arts Foundation, which is comprised of dedicated servant leaders who work tirelessly to champion the arts in Frisco while also serving and leading in various capacities throughout the Frisco community. Members include Ms. White, Chairperson; Mr. Will Odom, Vice Chair; Ms. Ivy Sun, Treasurer; Ms. Donna Schmittler, Secretary; Mr. Adrian Escalante, Board Member; Mr. Brad Huff, Board Member; Ms. Elizabeth Morrow, Board Member, and Mr. Will Pearce, Board Member.
The organization was recently awarded Non-profit of the Year by the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, and some of these passionate individuals have been recognized in their own right, including Mr. Odom as Ambassador of the Year, Mr. Pearce as Executive Business Leader of the Year, and Ms. Schmittler was awarded Silver Citizen of the Year.
Ivy Sun, Treasurer of the Foundation, also serves as Executive Vice President of the US-China Chamber of Commerce and explained how her passion for the arts promotes collaboration and connection, stating, “My leadership in both of these organizations allows me to share insights and leverage synergies within both groups.”
The Foundation also manages and distributes the City of Frisco’s Arts Tourism Grant Award program. Funding for the program comes from the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT). Simply put, every time a visitor stays at one of Frisco’s hotels, a portion of the tax charged goes to support the arts community. To qualify as a grantee, you must be a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to offering quality programming that benefits the citizens of Frisco. Applications for the various grants open each year from August 1st – 31st.
Last year the Frisco City Council approved $1.25 per capita towards the grant program, which amounted to the largest increase in arts funding since its inception. From $100,000 awarded to 19 grantees in 2022, the program offered just under $300,000 to 29 grantees in 2023.
“This historic increase in funding allowed FAF to broaden our vision, cast a wider net to bring more innovative arts to Frisco, and deepen the arts impact we have within our community,” Ms. White explains. “Our grantees include musicians, visual artists, filmmakers, dancers, singers, actors and more. They host numerous performances, exhibits, and events, all of which take place in Frisco,” Vice Chairman Mr. Odom adds.
“The generous grant we received from the Frisco Arts Foundation of $20,000 allowed us to pay every artist that performed at our partner nonprofit events in 2023-2024. We built our live music programs into over 100 events and flooded our city with arts & culture! We are extremely grateful to have the backing of the Frisco Arts Foundation. We love serving alongside them as we both continue to advance the arts in our community and help advocate for the artists and nonprofits we serve!” shares Charlie Wendell, grant recipient and Founder and Executive Director of Melody of Hope.
“The financial support from Frisco Arts Foundation is greatly needed and appreciated to help the Visual Arts Guild of Frisco provide free public art programming throughout the whole year and cultivate public appreciation for the visual arts. This past grant season, the increase of the percentage of the HOT funds (per capita) approved by the City Council infused FAF with more funds and the ability to increase grant levels as well the number of cultural arts organizations serving Frisco receiving Arts Tourism Grants. The Frisco Art Foundation grant is also partially supporting the Visual Arts Guild of Frisco’s kick-off of our inaugural Art in the Arena Frisco Indoor Fine Art Festival August 16-18 at the Comerica Center,” explains Jennifer Luney Bejtovic, Director of Finance for the Visual Arts Guild of Frisco.
In the past, the Foundation has also been able to grant $50,000 in scholarships to students who demonstrate a passion for pursuing a career and/or serving the arts. Thanks to a generous donation from Kyle Wilks, CEO of Wilks Development, the development company behind Frisco’s future Firefly Park, FAF has been able to re-activate this popular program and support future creatives. (Firefly Park is a mixed-use development planned for North Frisco to include residential and commercial units along with parks, lakes, trails, and recreation space.)
The foundation also hosts events for the whole community to enjoy, the biggest of which is the annual Frisco Arts Walk & Run. A unique and interactive 5K experience, participants and supporters alike enjoy various forms of visual and performing arts along the route of the 5K. Sponsored by Baylor Scott & White Health and in its 7th year, the event will be held on Saturday, October 26th, 2024, at the new Kaleidoscope Park, providing a backdrop where art and sports collide beautifully.
Board Member and Race Director Brad Huff shared, “We are thrilled to partner with Kaleidoscope Park so that participants will be able to see and experience this dynamic, innovative arts and culture destination. Runners and walkers will be immersed in artistic and cultural performances, and able to see the largest private collection of sculptures ever assembled along the race route. It is truly a one-of-a-kind event,” Mr. Huff shares.
While community events and involvement are a large part of what the foundation does and seeks to continually do, looking to the future, Ms. White admits it’s been a twenty-year dream of the Frisco arts community to see a home for the arts become a reality in the form of a Frisco Center for the Arts (previously known as the Frisco Performing Arts Complex). “Because a legacy project like this will require philanthropic donations to come to fruition, the Frisco Arts Foundation is ready to partner with the City of Frisco as the nonprofit vehicle for private fundraising to make this project a success,” Ms. White acknowledges.
As the community grows, Frisco Arts Foundation is more than ever committed to expanding arts opportunities in our community. The intention is to continue to empower the artist community by providing them with the tools and education to elevate their organizations at the nonprofit conference scheduled for February 2025. It’s also a goal for the foundation to ensure that residents, businesses, and arts partners are aware of how to engage with the artist community and attend performances and programming throughout the city of Frisco.
Ms. White admits she has never been more excited than now, for the future of the arts in Frisco and is thankful to the countless leaders and change-makers who have advocated for the arts in our community. “I love how art, whether it’s attending a concert, watching a play, or even looking at visual artwork, allows us to be introspective and feel a variety of emotions. It’s a universal language that inspires us and makes our city a great place to live.”
If you are a new resident or have lived here for a while, Frisco Arts Foundation would love your support. Sign up for the monthly newsletter at friscoarts.org or follow them on social media to learn more about performances and events held within our community. They also invite everyone to experience a taste of the arts at the 7th Annual Frisco Arts Walk and Run in October. Run, walk, dance, and stroll for the arts!
Yvonne Brown is a Frisco-based freelance writer who enjoys lattes, authentic Italian food, preferably on a patio, and exploring all aspects of North Texas life with her family and friends.
