Lubbock City Council has approved the recommended recipients for the Cultural Arts Grant Program, including the First Friday Art Trail from the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, or LHUCA.
Last summer, Lubbock’s city council voted to reduce funding for the First Friday Art Trail (FFAT) from the Cultural Arts Grant Program.
The council was split on the decision. Those against funding the trail pointed toward the inclusion of LGBTQ+ exhibits, political messaging, and adult content as an inappropriate use of tax dollars.
Members of the arts community responded that the opposition was fueled by misinformation, as some of the queer programming signaled out by the council were actually from private events – not part of the public art trail – and that LGBTQ+ displays are not inherently adult and can be family friendly.
Now, one year later, the council was once again tasked with approving the grant recipients recommended by Civic Lubbock, Inc.
District 3 representative David Glasheen, the councilmember who first suggested pulling FFAT from last year's program, thanked Civic Lubbock, Inc. for working with the council and making adjustments to the grant requirements.
“I think it appropriately addresses some of the concerns that this council has raised previously,” he said. “So let's continue to monitor the program going forward.”
Compared to the 2024 Cultural Arts Grant Guidelines & Procedures, the 2025 edition has several key differences.
The 2025 guidelines make more specifications about the public and local nature of eligible projects and the requirement for applicants to attend a grant workshop.
It also altered the restrictions section to instead be “ineligible requests,” with two new additions:
The first is political activities such as promoting or advocating a political position, candidate or party. And the second is programs that include obscene material, as defined by the Penal Code of Texas.
The 2025 procedures have an additional item in the ‘assurances’ section. It reads that by signing the grant agreement, applicants and project partners are agreeing not to use the funds to advertise political issues and will quote “avoid issues of a divisive or controversial nature.”
What qualifies as controversial is not specified in the guidelines.
Lubbock mayor Mark McBrayer said that several council members, including District 6 representative Tim Collins and District 1’s Christy Martinez-Garcia, assisted in the procedure changes.
“We're glad that we were able to come together with an agreed procedure for further funding for all these projects,” McBrayer said. “But we appreciate what First Friday does as well, and for the people it brings into our community and the opportunity to showcase our artists in our community who are important to us. So thank you for y’all's work on that.”
Last year, Civic Lubbock, Inc. recommended $26,500 in grant funding for LHUCA’s Art Trail. In the end the council granted $5,000 for security.
This year, Civic Lubbock, Inc. recommended more than $28,000 for the monthly event.
Councilmembers unanimously approved all of the grant recipients.
Chad Plunket is the executive director of the Charles Adams Studio Project, or CASP Studios, which was another grant recipient. He was one of several artists, organizers, and community members who came forward at Tuesday’s council meeting to voice their support of the arts.
He said that last year, CASP programming brought more than 800,000 visitors to Downtown Lubbock and exhibited more than 500 artists.
“The majority of our programming has no cost to the general public,” Plunket said. “These local small businesses depend upon cultural events to make a living. The funds that we have been recommended for are not funds that have to be collected from local taxpayers. They are funds that we have created and we have earned based upon what we have already done.”
Funds for the Cultural Arts Grant Program come from the Hotel Occupancy Tax to promote tourism.
LHUCA executive director Lindsey Maestri also spoke at the meeting. She thanked the city and Civic Lubbock, Inc. for funding arts programs and encouraged them to continue that commitment.
“We've been able to keep these programs so accessible for everyone in our community and to our visitors, to our community alike, through support from Civic Lubbock, Inc. and the Cultural Arts Grant funds,” she said.
67% of LHUCA’s programming is free, according to Maestri.
She said she’s grateful to the city for the support the center and the Art Trail have received, both from the city and the community.
“First Friday audience continues to grow,” she said. “It is a very well-loved program in our community and really such a part of our identity as Lubbockites.”