Edinburg is making strides to further express its artistic side.
The city of Edinburg has formally begun the process of acquiring the designation of a “Music Friendly Community” after those efforts were kicked off Wednesday with a virtual community workshop.
Representatives from the Texas Music Office were in attendance for the discussion, which largely acknowledged the community’s contributions to South Texas culture.
“The city of Edinburg, we consider ourselves an art-friendly city,” Magdiel Castle, assistant director of cultural arts, said. “In order to show that we are an art-friendly city, we are getting the certification of designations.”
Edinburg was also designated as a film-friendly community by the governor’s office in 2019, which means the city can assist and encourage filmmakers to film in Edinburg.
With the designation, the city will create a registry of local musicians that the city can then use to hire for future events.
“Obviously, the city of Edinburg is very excited to hear about this,” Assistant City Manager Jesus Saenz said during Wednesday’s virtual workshop. “I’ll be honest with you, this is all brand new to me, so as much information as I can absorb and soak up — that’s why I’m here.”
Chip Adams of the Texas Music Office said during the workshop that Texas is the only state with an economic development music office.
There are currently 31 cities in the state of Texas with the “Music Friendly Community” designation, none of which are from the Valley. According to the Texas Music Office website, Edinburg now joins the city of McAllen becoming the only cities from the Rio Grande Valley attempting to garner such a distinction.
Castle said Edinburg’s endeavor is the city’s way of highlighting its diversity and inclusivity.
“The focus on the arts is to reflect the cultural diversity that we have in our community,” Castle said.
Following Wednesday’s meeting, Castle further noted he was designated as the city’s music liaison. He said that the next step for the city is to register with the Texas Music Office.
“We are waiting for more details from the Texas Music Office so that we can register a big part of the directory and get more guidance as for what is going to be required on our directory,” Castle said.
One of the last steps will be to create a committee. Community members can register at www.edinburgarts.com/getinvolved.
“That’s how we are asking the public who is interested in becoming a member of this committee to apply,” Castle said. “We’ll see who gets appointed.”
