Since 2008, the LPAC has supported nonprofit and public programs that promote the development of fine and performing arts in Leander.
At its Dec. 14 meeting, the LPAC voted to bring the following recommendations to council: changing the organization’s name from Public Art Commission to Leander Public Arts and Culture Commission; expanding the LPAC’s role to include participation in all culturally diverse events, which consist of MLK Day, Juneteenth, Diwali and Cinco de Mayo; and adding a definition of the word “culture” to the commission’s ordinance, according to the city documents.
The LPAC board is recommending a name change to Leander Public Arts and Culture Commission because it reflects the organization’s expanded focus on other art forms, such as culinary arts, performing arts and theatre, according to city documents.
The new definition added to the LPAC’s ordinance reads: “Culture is within people and is contagiously and globally spread throughout their food, their music, their language, their arts, their shared knowledge, their religion and their way of life. Culture is actively fostering growth and understanding in shared social patterns of behavior and interactions that are learned by socialization."
Council made suggestions regarding the LPAC’s culture objective. One recommendation included reaching out to the Round Rock Arts and Culture Commission for help with a mission statement involving culture.
Council Member David McDonald recommended that the commission incorporate Texan culture into Leander culture.
“I hear all the things that you guys want to bring in. Can we bring in some Texas stuff too? Because people are coming here because we’re Texas,” he said at the meeting. “If we can also incorporate that within our culture because that is our culture [in Leander].”
