Mayor Becky Ames (Beaumont, TX)

2020 Honoree - Local Arts Leadership Award

Biography

Mayor Becky Ames has consistently advocated for the arts community in Beaumont, Texas, during and prior to her 12 years as Mayor. Her vision and commitment to supporting creativity has played a vital role in the growth of arts programming and overall participation from residents and visitors alike.

As Mayor, she has supported the funding, operations, and maintenance of historical and cultural assets owned by the City of Beaumont. These include the Jefferson Theatre, The Art Museum of Southeast Texas, and the Julie Rogers Theatre, which is home to the Symphony of Southeast Texas, as well as presentations by the Beaumont Civic Opera, Beaumont Civic Ballet, and Beaumont Ballet Theatre. The theater has become the cornerstone of entertainment in downtown Beaumont.

Mayor Ames supported and approved the creative use of the Hotel Occupancy Taxes to commission local artists for murals in downtown Beaumont by way of the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and local nonprofit The Art Studio, Inc. (TASI).  Further, she has allocated Community Block Grant funding to local theater programs for low to moderate income youth, teens, and adults the Jonathan Williams Center for Performing Arts (JWCPA).

At the street corner level, she supported an initiative for a beautification project to engage local artists to paint traffic control boxes throughout the City of Beaumont in 2018.  She has lent support and funding to the Cultural Arts District Designation Application, which was recently awarded and presented by the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) to the Downtown Beaumont Cultural Arts District (DBCAD).

Mayor Ames recognizes the importance of the arts with the Calder Art Fest, a city festival open to the public, which includes local art vendors, live mural paintings, and musical performances by local artists to celebrate art, artists and creativity. 

At the national level, she has served for over 12 years on the United States Conference of Mayor’s Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment and Sports (TAPES) Committee.