I love the part in The Wizard of Oz when the cowardly lion receives his medal of courage. Sure it’s touching to see the tin-man receive his heart, and the scarecrow his brain, but something about the lion has always resonated most with me. Maybe it’s because sometimes I’m just like the lion, preferring to stay in my comfort zone rather than venturing into the woods full of lions and tigers and bears (oh my!)…

The lights were on in the kitchen as I pulled up to my older sister Erin’s house, through the front windows I could see pink streamers twisted and dangling from the ceiling. We were gathering as a family to celebrate my mom’s birthday, and I was running late after a last minute grocery store treasure hunt for haricot vert green beans. I had this grand plan of leisurely cooking all afternoon with my sister after weeks of not having much time together…

In a global survey of 1,500 CEOs, IBM found that creativity was considered to be the #1 leadership trait for the future. Creativity is more than a leadership trait. It’s the ability to create solutions for complex problems and to add beauty and hope to a searching world. Art House Dallas takes the power of creativity to change our culture very seriously and has spent the last two years equipping and encouraging artists of all types: photographers, writers, entrepreneurs, architects, painters, musicians…

I once read a quote by Robert Schumann that brought clarity to my purpose as an artist: “To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist.” I have been interning for Art House Dallas for about a month now, and have become increasingly intrigued by the concept of creating art for the common good. My learning journey continued when I attended a To Write Love On Her Arms…

There are a couple of meaningful phrases friends have passed on to me over the years that I’m probably never going to forget. One such phrase is more of this, less of that. Andi Ashworth, Art House America co-founder, told me about a time years ago when she and Charlie were at a retreat down at Laity Lodge during a busy season in their lives…

Arthur Fry was a pretty normal kid. He grew up in Minnesota in the 1930's, sang in the church choir and loved spending his extra time reading. He was the kind of person who loved books too much to mark them up with ink. Instead, he scribbled notes on scraps of paper and used them to bookmark pages. The only problem was that all of his notes kept falling out of their place in the book, that is, until the day of his great epiphany…

We are pleased to announce that one of the generous patrons of Art House Dallas has committed to match up to $10,000 for each donation made to the Equip Artists Campaign by December 31st! Your generous year-end gifts would provide the opportunity for us to raise a total of $20,000! As there are so many areas to give this time of year, please consider that your contribution to Art House Dallas is making an investment not only in our community, but in our culture at large as we equip artists of all types…

I took the back way to work this morning. Though a slower route, it was worth it to drive past the beautiful pond and the large trees along the creek. I was captivated by the oranges, reds and yellows of the fall leaves, and the beams of light streaming through the branches. I wish I could've captured it in a photograph, the beautiful flickers of glory, which created in me a longing “to find the place where all the beauty…

In a global survey of 1,500 CEOs, IBM found that creativity was considered to be the #1 leadership trait for the future. Creativity is more than a leadership trait. It’s the ability to create solutions for complex problems and to add beauty and hope to a searching world. Art House Dallas takes the power of creativity to change our culture very seriously and has spent the last two years equipping and encouraging artists of all types: photographers, writers, entrepreneurs, architects, painters, musicians…

We received a surprise in the mail recently. The familiar letterhead from the Internal Revenue Service instinctively made me dread its contents. Instead, I was greeted with the unbelievable news that Art House Dallas had received non-profit status as a 501c3 public charity! I may or may not have jumped up and down by myself in my office...I was so overwhelmed with gratitude once I realized what I was holding in my hands–mainly because I wasn’t expecting to hear back from the IRS until later in 2013. In many ways…