Sec. 2166.552.  FINE ARTS PROJECTS.  (a)  A using agency that requests a project analysis by the commission for a building construction project that is estimated to cost more than $250,000 may specify in the general description of the project that up to one percent of the amount of the original project cost estimate be spent for fine arts projects at or near the site of the project.  The using agency may consult the Texas Commission on the Arts in preparing the general description of the project.
(b)  The using agency, the commission, and the Texas Commission on the Arts may conduct a public hearing to take testimony from interested persons regarding the costs and benefits of using a portion of the cost of the project for fine arts projects.
(c)  The commission shall initiate negotiations for and enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Texas Commission on the Arts to establish guidelines for implementing this section.  The memorandum of understanding must be adopted by the governing bodies of the commission and the Texas Commission on the Arts.  After a memorandum of understanding is adopted, the Texas Commission on the Arts shall publish the memorandum of understanding in the Texas Register.
(d)  If the legislature authorizes and appropriates money for a fine arts project, the commission shall cooperate with the Texas Commission on the Arts and consult it for advice in determining how to use the money appropriated for the fine arts project.
(e)  In selecting a fine arts project, emphasis should be placed, whenever feasible, on works by living Texas artists.  Consideration shall be given to artists of all ethnic origins.
(f)  This section does not limit, restrict, or prohibit the commission from including expenditures for fine arts in its original project cost estimate.
(g)  In this section, "fine arts project" includes murals, fountains, mosaics, and other aesthetic improvements.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 41, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.  Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 17.06(b), eff. Sept. 1, 1997.