Austin Way Magazine - GreenGale Publishing - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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photography by allen berezovsky/getty Images (wIlson); bob straus (performers, guests) Performers at the last Texas Medal of Arts awards show. right: Actress Chandra Wilson will be honored at this year's event. below: Guests will celebrate this year's honorees at an awards dinner and gala on February 25. "Texas is where i goT my foundaTion—you can geT yours from here Too." —chandra wilson Hollywood success, she's still very much a Texas girl. "That never goes anywhere," says the Houston native, who first took to the stage at the Theatre Under The Stars when she was just 5 years old. "Somewhere around 9:35 every night my slang comes in real hard, so I have to watch my I's and E's because they can get real lazy." Wilson should feel welcome to slip back into her native drawl at the biennial gala, which will be hosted at the Long Center and feature an awards show and dinner. The gala caps off two days of events, including a VIP Legislative Reception and a Stars of Texas Brunch. Award nomina- tions are made by the Texas Cultural Trust, a nonprofit devoted to ensuring the vitality of arts and literacy in public education and the economy; past honorees include creative greats like Clint Black, Debbie Allen, and Willie Nelson. The award celebrates not only a spectacular his- tory of achievement in entertainment, education, and the arts, but also an honoree's commitment to inspiring future generations. Wilson, for instance, returns home to Houston every May to audition students from her alma mater, the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, for two scholar- ship grants she sponsors. She also supports a scholarship for the Young Performers Program at The Ensemble Theatre, the last venue Wilson per- formed at in her home state. "It's important to me to stay connected to all the places that touched me and had a huge impact on keeping me motivated," says Wilson. "All the skills that I use to this day come from those places, so I want to encourage the young folks coming up to enjoy that ride. Texas is where I got my foundation—you can get yours from here too." Foxx, who just appeared in the remake of annie, also credits his Texas roots for his success, calling out a joyful "Yeehaw!" to his hometown of Terrell during his 2005 Golden Globe acceptance speech for ray. It was in Terrell, which is about 30 miles east of Dallas, that Foxx first discovered his passion for music and comedy. Later, when accepting his Best Actor Oscar for ray, Foxx thanked his grand- mother for instilling in him the old-school Texas values that have helped make him a star. "She was my first acting teacher," he said. "She told me to 'stand up straight; put your shoulders back.' She told me: 'Act like you have some sense. I want you to be a Southern gentleman.'" Besides Wilson and Foxx, other honorees at this year's event will include journalism giant Lawrence Wright, the Austin-based Pulitzer Prize-winning author, screenwriter, and staff writer for The new yorker, along with legendary musician T Bone Burnett, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, social- practice artist Rick Lowe, philanthropist Ruth Altshuler, architect Charles Renfro, philanthropist Margaret McDermott, and the iconic Kilgore Rangerettes. Representatives from the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group will also accept awards. ViP Legislative reception, february 24, 6 pm, Brazos hall; stars of Texas Brunch, february 25, 11 am, governor's mansion; Texas medal of arts red carpet reception, awards show, and gala, february 25, 5:30 pm, Long center for the Performing arts; texasmedalofarts.org AW 38 AUSTINWAY.com CULTURE Hottest Ticket