The University of Houston’s Cullen Performance Hall has rented its facility for numerous national and international musical acts, theatre performances, lectures, ESPN’s College Game Day, commencement ceremonies, and much more.
Now, it can add the Harris County Department of Education Scholastic Art & Writing Awards to its list. One of the County’s goals for this event was to connect this event with a local post-secondary institution to provide student attendees engagement and connection with the institution.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, presented by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, aims to award and identify students with exceptional artistic and literary talent.
Locally, the Harris County Department of Education conducts the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, which rewards students with awards for the top art and writing submissions. The two-day event encompasses award recipients from Harris, Fort Bend, and Galveston Counties.
The event draws a large attendance, which means the County must book a venue large enough to host the ceremony and the many art submissions that are nominated for awards.
Before beginning the search for a new venue, Jasmine Booker, Officer of Community & Leadership Development, said she had to find a venue that also incorporated the feedback they received from past Scholastic Art & Writing Awards attendees.
The Scholastic Award ceremony brought close to 2,000 visitors between both days, including participants, their family and friends.
Brandon Ferkel, Cullen Performance Hall Theatre Director, and Erin Shelly, Cullen Performance Hall Front of House Manager connected Booker with the Student Center, which ended up displaying the Scholastic art submissions.
The Scholastic Award attendees were treated to a UH welcome video, a speech from a representative from the Office of Admissions, and heard from Beckham Dossett, Associate Professor and Director of the Kathrine G. McGovern College of Arts, Dr. Samuel Brower, department chair for the College of Education, and Catherine Horn, Dean of the College of Education.
“The whole event was to celebrate these students but also to bring them into the mindset of, ‘I could go to college here,’” said Shelly.
After the event, Booker said the feedback she received from students was overwhelmingly positive. The students loved seeing and exploring UH for the first time and enjoyed hearing from professors and UH representatives.