Dear fellow cultural advocate,

Problems of hunger and violence are our foremost concerns in a healthy society. Cultural understanding is a major determining factor for people who give their time and resources to make life better for those facing crises. Cultural education can improve the quality of life in a busy city, add new dimensions to a city known primarily for its industries and even minimize conflicts and strife in an increasingly-diverse society. Cultural literacy diminishes the contention of superiority by members of a race or religion over others.

Houston is known as a thriving city of commerce and recognized for its international business opportunities. It is a city known in some circles for elite arts, with all the expected amenities -- grand museums, five star restaurants and posh hotels. Shopping is a major attraction for tourists and business publications in other cities portray Houston as a prime destination for patrons of men's clubs. Locally, people call Houston "The Bayou City," "Clutch City," and "Space City," all with certain implications. Those limited titles and characteristics do not represent Houston as a city offering all things to all people.

Houston's greatest potential is in offering great cultural experiences and education to citizens and visitors. A long history of diverse immigration and constant influx of new cultures and social trends makes Houston a city of expansive opportunity. A good quality of life requires more than just work and play, and technological imposition. It is about living intently and deliberately, finding unlimited interests and independent opportunities, developing culture and counterculture, and being capable of having a unique identity in mass society.

Houston needs to define its outward persona in terms of the sheer diversity of cultures that gravitate here -- unassimilated people who do not all share the same interests.

It is an exciting time for our organization, as we advocate cultural literacy beyond the workplace and outside the homogenizing effects of mass media and corporate entertainment.


Volunteer Opportunities
Limitless Possibilities
Benefiting Artists
Educational Programs
Great Adventures
More on the Web



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Volunteer Opportunities

We are working to involve more volunteers in our efforts and to establish a personnel structure that allows volunteers to contribute as much or as little time as they want. We divide our needs into three important categories.

Programs is currently our highest priority because it involves activities we offer to volunteers and programs for the community. Obviously, our most important need is a Volunteer Coordinator, to help volunteers develop opportunities that best suit their interests. We also need program coordinators to initiate and manage programs, ranging from performing arts events to educational activities for kids.

Communications is another important area that allows us to provide valuable services for the community. Editors can work closely with cultural and community organizations across the region to provide valuable information to Internet users and radio listeners, such as calendar listings for cultural events. Other editors may take creative control of topical sections, such as Houston People, Pop Culture, Counterculture, Gulf Coast Music, Folk Art or Kids' Stuff. Writers may work on virtually any topic that interests them. We have a wealth of interesting assignments that can be claimed, as well. We are also capable of producing educational materials for broadcast if these kinds of programs are staffed by volunteers.

Administration will clearly be necessary with an increased number of volunteers and more programs to promote. A marketing director will be our first need in this area.

Email addresses are available for those doing on-going work or special projects.


For more information about volunteer needs and opportunities, please see the Office Page:
http://www.houstonculture.org/office


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Limitless Possibilities

Much of the day-to-day work of the organization involves creating informational resources and making community members aware of the vast opportunities to participate in cultural activities. There is also a need to work on long-range projects that will have tremendous impact on Houston. These can only be successful with the support of dedicated volunteers.

Please use the links below to review some of our biggest goals.

Camp Dos Cabezas will benefit Houston children.
http://www.houstonculture.org/camp

The Houston Cultural Arts Center will benefit Houston artists and organizations, as well as the community. The center would facilitate cultural education and opportunity.
http://www.houstonculture.org/office/build/it.html

There are many possible programs and activities we can organize and we are open to all suggestions and ideas. We could promote an on-site educational program and clean-up of a historic Native American mound on Galveston Bay, organize a tour of the Haak Vineyards and Winery, or host an international dance festival at Rice University.


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Benefiting Artists

We are offering photography classes to help artists create documentaries, make photographic reproductions of their work or handle their own publicity. We are presently holding registration through Leisure Learning and must offer a uniform price to all participants, but in the future we hope to offer a discount to volunteers.
http://www.houstonculture.org/class

Here is more information about the next class.
http://www.houstonculture.org/class/class1syl.html

We plan to bring Bill Steber's Mississippi Blues Documentary to Houston. You can see a selection of his images in our Featured Artist section. We would also like help developing features like this that focus on local artists.
http://www.houstonculture.org/artist


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Educational Programs

Creating educational programs about regional culture is among our highest of priorities. We have been fortunate to have a good relationship with KTRU, Rice University Radio, and can reach an receptive audience and encourage the DJs, who maintain the independent-music format, to explore the traditional music of diverse cultures. KTRU's mission to provide educational and community programming is similar to our mission. It is mutually beneficial for us to arrange on-air interviews and create broadcast-quality CD-ROMs featuring cultural educational topics. There are many great opportunities to serve both the Houston Institute for Culture and Rice Radio as a volunteer.

Classical Indian dance, featuring Namita Bodaji, is an example of an educational event we recently cosponsored with KTRU.
http://www.houstonculture.org/world/namita0104.html

We are currently researching information for a script for an audio CD featuring legendary Texas bandleader Bob Wills to be delivered on our website and broadcast on KTRU, as well as other noncommercial radio stations. There are many important ways for volunteers to initiate and contribute to these valuable projects.


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Great Adventures

Adventure travel to cultural destinations is deeply rooted in the origin of the organization. We hope to increase our emphasis on regional exploration in the future. Organized travel is another area where we can offer discounts to volunteers by refunding unspent contingency funds. Look for future adventures using this quick link.
http://www.houstonculture.org/travel

We want to encourage volunteers to contribute accounts, such as essays and journals, of cultural experiences in interesting places. Additionally, we are creating feature articles that reflect cultural history and preparing informational resources on line to help tourists discover interesting cultures and travel safely.

Please see the Canyon Journal, a series we are developing about Mexico's unique Copper Canyon.
http://www.houstonculture.org/canyon


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More on the Web

Most people we reach find our information on the Internet. The obvious benefit is that they can locate the information at any time. It is our goal to maintain up-to-date and interesting information on line. We know that our visitor numbers increase dramatically while we are promoting events in Houston and working to garner press coverage. A worthwhile goal for us is to dramatically enhance the resources we offer before our next round of promotions and events. We need writes and editors, as well as typists to transcribe materials for the website. We would like to have an editor for each major section and subsection. Contributors can work to improve an existing topic or develop new ideas to suit their interests. We are also building resources that will benefit many small organizations, such as a media list and event planning information. We also need help improving our meta tags and registering our site with more search engines. The site is extensive, and growing, so we need to create a local search feature.

Here are some informational pages of great value to the community. We need to develop these resources on a more timely basis.

Cultural Resource Directory
http://www.houstonculture.org/listings

Cultural Events Calendar
http://www.houstonculture.org/events


Other sections we are developing will include feature articles and photography. These can be educational and fun.

Tour Texas
http://www.houstonculture.org/tour/texas1.html

Around H-town
http://www.houstonculture.org/around/town.html

Houston People
http://www.houstonculture.org/people

La Frontera Vieja
http://www.houstonculture.org/spanish


Volunteers can use quick links to get information as it is updated.

Meetings
http://www.houstonculture.org/meeting

Office
http://www.houstonculture.org/office

Media
http://www.houstonculture.org/media

World Music
http://www.houstonculture.org/world



As you can tell, there are many great opportunities to truly make a difference as we encourage people to learn and participate in cultural activities of all kinds. Please let us know what your interests are and how you prefer to go about developing those interests to benefit others.

Thanks for your valuable time,
Mark
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M A R K   L A C Y / mark@cultural-crossroads.com

The Houston Institute for Culture
http://www.houstonculture.org

Read Cabeza de Vaca On Line
http://www.houstonculture.org/spanish

Blues Photography by Bill Steber
http://www.houstonculture.org/artist