About the Bosque Arts Center
“An outstanding example of a community art center in a rural area,” is how the Bosque Arts Center has been described by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Since its inception in 1981, the Arts Center has been housed in the only remaining building of the historic Clifton Lutheran College. Serving the citizens of Bosque County as well as the surrounding counties, the Bosque Arts Center has become a center for performing & visual arts as well as for recreation and educational programs.
Considered one of the “100 Best Small Art Towns in America,” Clifton has attracted such renowned artists as the late James Boren, the late Melvin Warren, Bruce Greene, Martin Grelle, George Hallmark, Tony Eubanks and George Boutwell. Many of those artists have exhibited or taught at the Arts Center.
The Bosque Arts Center is a non-profit community entity dedicated to the promotion and support of the performing and visual arts in Bosque County. Annual membership dues provide support for the general maintenance and operation of the historic facility. Additional support comes from individual and corporate gifts, an endowment fund, and profits from the annual Big Event fundraiser held in the spring.
Members of the community are eligible to enroll in educational enrichment classes, attend workshops, and join member organizations hosted by the Arts Center. Each educational program and member organization is responsible for its own program funding. Currently there are five active member organizations or branches under the Arts Center umbrella: Tin Building Theatre, Art Patrons (Art Council), Photography Guild, Art Club and the Auxiliary. Each of these branches may assess fees for membership, sell tickets to functions, and solicit underwriting, as approved by the Arts Center Board of Directors, to meet their goals.
Art, culture, music are all part of our daily lives. They accompany our good and bad moments, trigger our memories and can inspire our actions. The arts offer a place…where the richness of our differences can be mutually explored and experienced.
—B Ruby Rich