TX SR642

Congratulates the five 2026 Texas State Artist honorees announced by the Texas Commission on the Arts

Kevin Prufer named 2026 State Poet Laureate; author of How He Loved Them (long-listed for 2019 Pulitzer Prize) and The Fears (2024 Rilke Prize winner); professor at University of Houston and Lesley University

Ana María Martínez of Houston named State Classical Musician; Grammy Award-winning soprano who has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Royal Opera House; professor at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music

Norah Jones named State Nonclassical Musician; won five Grammy Awards for her 2002 debut Come Away with Me including Album of the Year; has sold over 53 million records; raised in Grapevine and graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas

Letitia Huckaby named State Two-Dimensional Artist (2022 Texas Artist of the Year, cofounder of Kinfolk House in Fort Worth) and Linda Ridgway of Dallas named State Three-Dimensional Artist for bronze wall relief work