The Fort Worth Art Commission, the body that advises and makes recommendations to the City Council regarding the city’s public art program, will elect a new chair soon.
Estrus Tucker, the commission’s most recent chair, stepped down at the organization’s Sept. 25 meeting after reaching his term limit.
Tucker, the president, CEO and co-founder of DEI Consultants LLC, has been praised for his leadership in this role, most recently at Arts Fort Worth’s annual Heart of Gold Awards.
He won the Advocate for the Arts Award for his work on the commission and beyond, including more than 35 years of leadership experience in local, state and national organizations. When he took to the stage to accept the award, Tucker said he was inspired to emulate the winners before him and to live his life as a work of art.
“Because art doesn’t ask about your race or ethnicity or your gender or your gender identity. Art doesn’t really ask about what side of town you live on or your census tract and then ask about your education or what you think about your political affiliation. Art doesn’t care about how differently abled you are,” he said.
“Art is the triumph of the human spirit. At its best, it looks at our common humanity. And in Fort Worth that’s what we need more than anything else, spaces where our common humanity can triumph (and) our human dignity can be at the center.”
At the commission’s September meeting, vice chair James Talambas, thanked Tucker for his leadership and service to the community.
“Your attention to fairness and equity in process and the community will have a lasting effect on this commission. Your presence and voice will be missed but will continue to echo through each one of us as we continue to represent the city,” he said.
In a nod to the time limits on public comments, Talambas quipped, “We’re looking forward to hearing you more out there, three minutes at a time.”
The art commission is expected to elect a new chair and vice chair at its next meeting at 5 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.
Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.