Culture Flash!

• The winners of the third Texas Medal of Arts Awards have been announced by the Texas Cultural Trust Council. The annual honors go to Texans who have made outstanding achievements in the literary arts, visual arts, dance, music, theatre, television, arts education, and arts patronage. A lifetime achievement award is also presented. Receiving medals at this year's ceremony at the Paramount Theatre on Tuesday, April 5, will be: Grammy Award-winning singer Vikki Carr of El Paso (Lifetime Achievement); former Houston Ballet Artistic Director Ben Stevenson O.B.E. of Houston (Dance); Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Lyle Lovett of Klein (Music); Tony Award-winning actress Phylicia Rashad of Houston (Television/Theatre); poet, essayist, and fiction writer Naomi Shihab Nye of San Antonio (Literary Arts); painter, writer, and illustrator Jose Cisneros of El Paso (Visual Arts); internationally celebrated director Robert Wilson of Waco (Theatre); Ginger Head-Gearheart of Fort Worth (Arts Education); Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long of Austin (Arts Patron Individual); modern and contemporary sculpture Nasher Foundation/Raymond D. Nasher of Dallas (Arts Patron Foundation). Bob Schieffer of CBS News will emcee the event, which will feature performances by Patty Griffin, Ray Benson, Yolanda Adams, Ballet Austin, and Texas Cultural Trust Young Master Caitlin Tully. For more information, call 800/585-3737 or visit www.starticketsplus.com.

• The Elisabet Ney Museum received a $5,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to help preserve the facility as part of its Historic Artists' Homes and Studios program, an initiative funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. The Ney was the only such home in Texas to be funded in this round of grants. For more information, call 458-2255 or visit www.cityofaustin.org/elisabetney.