HEIDI MARQUEZ SMITH

HEIDI MARQUEZ SMITH Executive Director of the Texas Cultural Trust, 2011 Cover Woman

Heidi Marquez Smith with her good friend and former AW cover woman, Maya Smart

WHAT IS MAKING YOU SMILE RIGHT NOW?

There is definitely an uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty. However, there are many silver linings, including daily dinners and more time with my family, lots of sidewalk chalk art, daily exercise, time to reconnect with neighbors, happy hours with girlfriends, FaceTimes with my mom and takeout dinners to support local restaurants! I am truly moved by the creativity and resourcefulness of people coming together through music, song and art to stay connected and express themselves. Where language fails, art takes over!

Austin Woman: Your Austin Woman cover story followed your political career in Washington, D.C. and your role as the executive director of the Texas Book Festival. What have been some career highlights since your 2011 cover?

Heidi Marquez Smith: The past nine years have been a blur! I officially left my role as executive director for the Texas Book Festival in 2013 and that same year had my youngest son. I also chaired the Texas Lyceum’s Public Conference, “Texas Infrastructure: Building the Future.”

Transitioning to consulting from home was a challenge with a newborn. During the following years I worked with small nonprofits and burgeoning nonprofits to provide development and strategic consulting. I took full advantage of volunteering for the organizations I loved, serving on multiple boards and committees.

All this to say, I learned that I loved being out in the community and strategically connecting people and organizations that otherwise may have never had an opportunity to collaborate and create and fulfill their goals together.

AW: In your current role as the executive director of the Texas Cultural Trust, you’ve had to lead through unprecedented times with COVID-19. What advice do you have for nonprofits weathering this storm and how can the community best support them?

HMS: As a statewide leader in the arts and culture sector, I feel a huge responsibility to help, inform and connect. How do we illustrate how important the arts have been to Austin and to Texas during this pandemic, as an emotional salve, a form of expression, a universal language, a way to connect with others and a symbol of hope? I do believe that access to art and culture is and will be essential to healing and rebuilding our local and global communities.

The Trust is encouraging art organizations to complete the Americans for the Arts Economic Impact Survey. Being able to quantify the economic impact of COVID-19 on businesses and individuals is extremely important to ensure we can advocate for local and state relief and recovery funding. The Trust has aggregated a comprehensive list of financial and informational resources for those impacted by COVID-19 in one place to make this a bit easier. We have also allowed our Texas Women for the Arts grantees to reallocate funding from education programming to operations if needed. I recommend other grantors consider doing the same for their grantees.

We are all in this together! Collaboration is key; this is no time to be territorial. Minimize duplication of efforts. Take this time to evaluate your operation. Share best practices and resources. Keep in touch with your sponsors, donors, constituents. Promote others in your community. Utilize your board and their networks.

AW: How can Austinites support you and the women in your community right now?

HMS: Tag your favorite artist and their work on your social media, tag restaurants after picking up a meal and invite your network to support them or learn about them. If you don’t already know about the Texas Cultural Trust, I would love for you to visit our website and learn more. Participate in our #ARTCANTEXAS initiative and join our coloring campaign and tag us in your artwork.

Austin women, keep in touch with your networks, especially those you might not have heard from recently. Staying home does have its silver linings, but it can also be isolating, whether you live alone or have six children.