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TSA Mission Statement: The mission of Tejas Storytelling Association is to perpetuate the art of storytelling throughout the South Central Region. TSA will continue to promote all facets of storytelling and to expand the understanding and experiences of storytelling by nurturing storytellers and listeners and recruiting new audiences. TSA History In 1985, storyteller Finely Stewart produced the first storytelling festival at the Denton Arts Center, in Denton, Texas. A handful of storytellers and listeners gathered to participate in the ancient art of storytelling. Storytellers told in themed concerts to the listeners. This humble beginning lit a spark in those who participated. By the next year, story lovers worked to establish the Tejas Storytelling Association (TSA) as an official 501(c)3 non-profit organization. They named it Tejas to express Finley's grand vision of creating an organization that would bring together listeners and tellers from throughout the Texas region. Many historians believe that the word Tejas had its origins from the Caddo native american word for friend. From these beginnings, TSA rapidly grew. They continued to grow the festival drawing tellers and listeners from Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The festivals began to feature workshops on how to tell stories and feature nationally known storytellers. In 1997, Karen Morgan became TSA's second executive director after Finley Stewart. She had served years as a volunteer and later as a board member. Through her tenure as executive director, she shepherded the growth of the festival. She solidified the relationship between the Festival and the city of Denton. In 2000, she founded the Denton Storytelling Task Force. 2005 marked many changes to TSA. TSA celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Texas Storytelling Festival. This year also brought sadness in the loss of Karen Morgan as executive director. Her years of hard-work, community building, and vision will be missed. TSA has hired a new executive director, Cristin Thomas. She and the board of directors are working to take TSA to the next level increasing the impact of TSA on the Tejas region. They have revised the organization's mission statement to provide a new focus for taking storytelling to the next level. For many, storytelling is much more than a past time. It's a way of life. Volunteers have provided hundreds of thousands of hours to TSA in the support of storytelling. They have done so because they've felt that same spark that started over twenty years ago. People attending TSA's events experience the joy, wisdom, and hope that storytellers transmit through their stories. We hope that you'll attend the Festival or one of TSA's other events and experience the power of storytelling. |
TSA 2007/2008 GOVERNING BOARD Genie Hammel, President • gthammel@tt.rr.com Rosemary Davis, Vice President & Affiliate Guild Rep. • rlgdavis@rapidcable.com Gail McMillan, Secretary • GMcmil5382@aol.com Thom Anderson • crm2193@bn.com Dorothy Anthony • gingerkake@sbcglobal.net Jeannine Pasini Beekman • j9pb@juno.com Ben Benford • kleen.shave@sbcglobal.net Elizabeth Ellis • storyellis@sbcglobal.net Jaye McLaughlin • jayemclaughlin@hotmail.com Don Sanders • djsanders@mindspring.com STAFF
• Cristin Thomas, Executive Director
• Lisa Cunningham, Marketing Director • Pat Lanham, Administrative Assistant |
Copyright © 2008 Tejas Storytelling Association. All rights reserved. |