Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Batterson.
Kelly, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve lived in Houston since the late 80’s so I feel like a Houstonian even though I grew up in Wisconsin. I still cheer for the Greenbay Packers, so that makes me forever a Cheese-head. When I moved to Houston, I got a job on television at KRIV-TV right around the time when it went from an independent station to FOX-26, which was a really exciting time to work there. Over the span of a decade, I worked in Public Service, Promotions, Production, and Sales Promotion, so I was able to test the waters in a variety of capacities, which allowed me to grow creatively.
During that time, two of my favorite events to attend were the Westheimer Art Festival and the Houston International Festival. When I left FOX 26 in the late ’90s, I started working for the production company that produced the Houston International Festival and I worked on that event for eight years, which was a dream job. I continued to work on many of the cities larger signature events as a freelancer, including Freedom over Texas, Houston Children’s Festival, Thanksgiving Day Parade, Mayor’s Holiday Celebration, Free Press Summerfest, and Bayou City Art Festival. Last September, the position of Executive Director for the Art Colony Association came available and I jumped at the chance to work for the organization that produces the Bayou City Art Festival. So here I am working for a great non-profit that promotes art, art education and two fantastic festivals that have been a part of Houston’s landscape for the past 49 years.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
What would life be like without challenges. When you live in an event world, there are always certain challenges. You have to contend with weather when you produce outdoor events. I have experienced lots of events in foul weather gear. I was the festival director for The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival in April of 2018. I actually thought it might snow that year. It was sleeting rain and 42 degrees in APRIL. Selling sponsorships can be challenging in a rough economic climate. Load-in and load-out of 300 artists has its moments. Making sure that you are up on the latest security measures so you can ensure a safe event for your patrons, vendors, sponsors and artists has become a new challenge we all face. Our most recent challenge of having our Spring event canceled 2 weeks before our event date to the COVID-19 Pandemic was something we never saw coming. Now we face new challenges on how to sustain ourselves at a time where large gatherings and events aren’t permitted. We strive each day to stay positive, support our artists, keep creating and evolving and hope for better days ahead.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Bayou City Art Festival Story. Tell us more about your work.
The Art Colony Association produces two fine art festivals each year. One in the Spring at Memorial Park and one in the Fall in downtown Houston. We started out in the ’70s as the Westheimer Art Colony Festival and in the 90’s shortened our name to the Westheimer Art Festival. In 1996 we changed our name to Bayou City Art Festival as it is known today. We are an iconic event that will turn 50 next year. We feature the beautiful works of 300 juried artists at each event as well as performing art, live music, culinary arts, great food, a wine & beer garden and a children’s creative zone. Each February, we host a Middle School Art Competition where 5th – 8th graders get to submit 2-D art that is displayed at a local art gallery and receive prizes for the top winners. We are an iconic Houston event and we look forward to our next 50 years!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Becoming the Executive Director of the Art Colony Association is the proudest moment so far. I never had that opportunity on my radar and when it presented itself I wasn’t sure I was up for the challenge but now that I’ve sat in the chair for the last nine months I can really see the possibilities and the positive impact our events have on our art community and our city. A portion of our event proceeds help local non-profits with their missions. We want to keep adding new programs that assist some of our underserved communities. It’s great to be able to influence the direction we head in the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.artcolonyassociation.org
- Phone: 713-521-0133
- Email: kellyb@bayoucityartfestival.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/houstonartfest/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/houstonartfest/
- Twitter: twitter.com/houstonartfest
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