Austin Creative Alliance

Marcy Hoen

Excise the "interim" from Marcy Hoen's job title. The board of the Austin Creative Alliance was evidently so taken with her leadership of the organization during the past eight months that it has decided to keep her as executive director permanently. And what inspired such confidence? Hoen raced to aid East Austin Studio Tour artists who were in danger of being fined or shut down for noncompliance with city commercial codes and Americans With Disabilities Act guidelines. She and ACA staff hosted code compliance seminars to inform artists about the situation, and her contributions to a city ordinance provided legal status and protection to artists who sell art from their homes in conjunction with events like EAST. Moreover, she created and instituted the Frameworks EAST Fund microloan program to help Eastside artists pay for upgrades to their studios. She's built a partnership between the ACA and the Creative Fund, which provides financial support to community cultural organizations; advocated for cultural tourism to the hotel occupancy tax task force working group; organized three public forums to discuss issues of importance to the creative community; and implemented a scholarship program for Leadership Austin's Emerge program. Quite a track record for eight months.

Now, in what feels rather like Ouroboros territory, I'm reporting on an announcement for which I've been quoted in the press release. For the record, I'm not on the Alliance board and wasn't involved in any decision to hire Hoen in her interim or permanent capacity. I was, however, on the CreateAustin committee that helped the Austin Circle of Theaters transition into the Alliance. It was for that reason I was asked for a quote, and I stand by my comment that Hoen's activities with the Alliance to date "are a good indicator of how far she can take the organization as its permanent director." Hope you could understand that, what with my tail in my mouth and all.