The scuttlebutt's been swirling about Houston's Emily Todd leaving the Houston Endowment for "a local cultural job," and now the news is official: she's taking over Jill Jewitt's job as Mayor's Assistant for Cultural Affairs with the city!!! Todd headed up DiverseWorks in the late 90s before joinging the Endowment as their arts and culture grant officer, and she'll now take the reins from Jewitt on various fronts, including arts in the city, the Discovery Green park project, an oral history project, and other efforts. One of the things Jewitt first addressed when she came on board with Mayor White was CACHH and other city arts offices, which were rolled into the recently-formed Houston Arts Association (HAA), which distributes city arts grants, manages public art projects and is in charge of the city's art collection as well. While real reform in the city's arts programs still seems to be taking effect (and some would say that's putting a generous spin on it), there has at least been an effort at to raise arts awareness coming out from mayor's office over the past 8 years, and Todd will bring intimate knowledge of the Houston art scene to her new job. Go Emily!!!
A shift for Todd
