How Fine Arts Anchored $1.6 Billion in Community Investment

Jeremy Earnhart
Dec 26, 2025
5 min read

Updated: Jan 12

Editor’s Note (2026):

The success of the 2014 bond ($663.1M —anchored by fine arts) helped set the stage for the 2019 bond — $966M, bringing total community investment to $1.6 billion across two cycles. Fine arts wasn’t a line item. It functioned as an emotional anchor that helped carry the mundane infrastructure few communities rally around enthusiastically. In the 2019 bond, one-quarter of the line items included fine arts investments (KERA, 2021).

While comprehensive bonds passed in 2014 and 2019—both of which included visible investments in Fine Arts—the district's narrower, stand-alone requests at either end of that period—including pre-2014 facilities/roof proposals and the May 2025 elementary capacity bond—were rejected, underscoring that voter support is conditional, not automatic.

This case study documents the origins of the Arlington ISD Fine Arts Center and the district-wide fine arts strategy that surrounded it. Since its opening, the Center has remained a cornerstone of Arlington ISD’s fine arts ecosystem, while the programs embedded within it — including the Instrument Repair pathway and Fine Arts & Dual Language Academies — have continued to grow, scale, and receive sustained capital investment.

How do you build community support for a $663 million bond?

You give them something to believe in.

In 2014, Arlington ISD passed a comprehensive bond package covering facilities, technology, and security. But embedded in that package was approximately $100 million in fine arts investment—and it wasn't an afterthought. It was a strategic centerpiece.

A pre-bond scientific phone survey asked voters: "Would you support purchasing instruments for students who otherwise could not afford to participate in band and orchestra?"

The result? 70% yes—the highest positive response in the entire survey.

Fine arts didn't squeak through. It helped carry the bond.

This is the investment side of the argument I made in The Cost of Not Playing—what happens when a district leads with the arts instead of defending them.

"The district could give students a unique fine arts experience with a $32 million Fine Arts Center and two dual-language/fine arts academies," Fine Arts Director Jeremy Earnhart told the Star-Telegram (2014). The scope of the Fine Arts Center would necessitate a Board-approved augmentation, for which I flew back early from presenting at the Conn-Selmer Institute's Music Administration Collaborative—sometimes you just have to get on the plane.

What the Bond Included

The fine arts components of the 2014 bond package:

The Marcelo Cavazos Center for Visual and Performing Arts—concert hall, Broadway-ready theater, 2,000 sq. ft. dance studio, art gallery, 2D/3D visual arts studios, class piano lab
The nation's first public-school instrument repair CTE pathway, created in partnership with Music & Arts
Two Fine Arts & Dual Language Academies at the elementary level
Acoustically appropriate elementary strings rooms at all 54 elementary schools
$10 million for instruments and uniforms district-wide

This wasn't a building project. It was a comprehensive fine arts transformation strategy.

"This is a growth model," Earnhart said during the 2015 planning lab (aisd.net/bond). The district's aim was to increase student participation in fine arts and create world-class, student-centered programs accessible to every student.

Vision Meets Opportunity

I joined Arlington ISD as Director of Fine Arts in 2013, after serving in Irving ISD, where I had developed the concept of a comprehensive district Fine Arts Center with specialized fine arts programming, including instrument repair. Arlington was preparing a needs assessment for a future bond. Early conversations mentioned a "performance hall," but the concept lacked clarity or scope.

I brought the vision—not just a hall, but a comprehensive Fine Arts Center integrated into a district-wide strategy. This was the marriage of timing and leadership: a district ready to invest, and a fine arts program ready to crystallize what that investment could mean.

Crystallizing the Concept

The idea of a performance venue became something far greater. We designed an educational hub, not just a stage:

Concert Hall with the footprint of the Meyerson Symphony Center, scaled for students but with professional-level acoustics
Broadway-ready theater for musical theatre and UIL One-Act Play
2,000 sq. ft. dance studio with sprung floors and professional design
Art gallery and dedicated 2D/3D visual arts studios
Class piano lab to build foundational music literacy
Instrument Repair Program—ensuring equity of access while providing students with career-ready skills

This integration—world-class performance spaces plus hands-on educational programs—is what made the Center unique. To my knowledge, there is no other facility in the world that combines these elements for public school students under one roof.

Public education has been a closed shop for a long time,” said Jeremy Earnhart, the district’s fine arts director. “We want to make sure we’re opening up, leveraging ideas by industry experts and by staff and stakeholders" (Star-Telegram, 2015)

An educational consultant from DeJONG-RICHTER, a firm working in 46 states, observed during the Fine Arts Center planning process: "This is truly unique. Fine arts is getting the attention it truly deserves... this type of emphasis and attention on fine arts is exceptional and uncommon across the country."

Equity as the Cornerstone

The 70% survey response wasn't about buildings. It was about access.

When communities see fine arts as a pathway to opportunity for all students—not just the ones who can afford instruments—they rally behind it. That's the lesson Arlington proved: lead with equity, and the investment follows.

Lasting Impact

The Marcelo Cavazos Center for Visual and Performing Arts opened in 2020 and continues to stand in the top 1% of spaces for artistic growth and expression for students. Its facilities rival professional venues, yet its mission is education-first.

The Instrument Repair Program is now in its 11th year, covered by NBC, Dallas Innovates, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and NPR Marketplace. It exists only because it was embedded in the Center from the beginning—a deliberate decision to pair performance with practical career readiness.

The Lesson for Other Districts

The Arlington story illustrates a durable pattern: when fine arts are positioned as civic infrastructure rather than enrichment, communities are more likely to invest.

By crystallizing a vision that was both aspirational (world-class facilities) and practical (equity, repair, access), the bond passed with overwhelming support.
By embedding educational programs into a performance facility, Arlington created something unique in the world.
By aligning timing, vision, and community values, the district built a lasting legacy.

I was in dozens of community meetings over months and months. I watched voters respond to the instrument access question and the innovative, proposed programming. I saw what moved them.

It wasn't the square footage. It was the belief that every kid deserves a shot.