About Arts!Longview

Arts!Longview is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization formed in 2019 to oversee the state-designated Cultural District. The organization was created after an inspirational Longview Chamber of Commerce Inter-City visit to Waco in 2018, which included their cultural district. Following the trip, a local task force was created to pursue the possibility of a cultural district designation from the Texas Commission on the Arts. In 2019, the task force applied for and was granted acceptance as an official Texas Cultural District. The nonprofit was formed to oversee the ongoing effort to promote and develop the district.

The Arts!Longview Cultural District encompasses 343 acres that stretches from Downtown Longview down Mobberly Avenue to the LeTourneau University Belcher Center. In our role, Arts!Longview works with and advocates for 8 arts and culture partner organizations; we make art opportunities available for local artists through events and activities like the quarterly ArtWalks in Downtown Longview; we manage the historic Longview Community Center as a performance venue; and having the state designation allows Arts!Longview and several of our partner groups to apply for state grant funding that our community would not be eligible for without the designation.

Since 2019, Arts!Longview and our partner arts organizations have brought in more than $1 million in state grant funding to Longview that has supported enhancements to our Cultural District and innovative arts programming. Arts!Longview has installed 7 murals, 3 sculptures, an artistic sculptural bench, new wayfinding signage downtown, hundreds of banners, wrapped dozens of utility boxes, and more. Arts!Longview also organizes the quarterly ArtWalks, which are free to the community. In 2021, through a collaborative partnership with Gregg County, Arts!Longview took over management of the historic Longview Community Center to bring renewed life and energy to this beloved building. We recently completed a $300,000 project to improve the stage at the Community Center with new lighting, curtains, and theatrical rigging.

At Arts!Longview, we work to spark economic development and revitalization efforts as well as tourism to our community through a focus on arts and culture. More than 30 new businesses have opened in downtown Longview alone since 2019. We’ve made huge steps in our first five years, but we’re just getting started. More great things are on the horizon for the Arts!Longview Cultural District.