Tammy Meinershagen, top contributor to the Frisco Art society as the first American-Asian Artist

Frisco Arts Association shape and form the local arts
BY Choi, Hyebeen

Tammy Meinershagen, the executive director of Frisco Association for the Arts, was awarded with “2017 Spirit of Frisco” award not only as the first American-Asian but also as the first woman in the region. The “Spirit of Frisco” awards, which are given by the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, are targeted to residents who had lived in the city for 20years or more and appeared to be an outstanding contributor for the local society development.

“I had no idea about the award until the morning of the awards ceremony” she said, “My husband knew what was coming, so he secretly invited my mom to the ceremony and I was shocked with joy when I was called to the stage while seeing my mom on the screen”. She gladly shared about her unforgettable moments from the award day.

Tammy is originally from Rockford which is located nearby Chicago, IL where her parents first settled in the U.S. as Korean immigrants. Because of her parents love for music, she had much access to music education which started with participating music concerts. When she was only five, she could not help herself falling into the attractions of melody that were flowing out from violins. From then, violin became a crucial part of her life. As a young child, she did not speak fluent English which made music to be a lever for her communication expedient. “Music was my own language to communicate with people at the time”.

Frisco Association for the Arts is a non-profit organization and it serves to advocate and expand the local arts, including music, dance, theater, and visual art. The members study and research to find the best way to shape and form the local arts society and also to grant educational opportunities in arts. Their goal is to bring awareness of the art’s beauty to the city and develop performing arts center and the programs. They also grant scholarships to students who pursue their career in arts.

Tammy mentioned about lack of local arts centers and programs compare to the well-equipped systems of sports in Frisco, for such as Ice hockey, football, and baseball. She slightly referred about the inconvenience of how it is not easy to find places for artists to enjoy music comfortably, due to lacking arts facilities. However, the vulnerability of the local arts is yet to show greater through her and the organization’s contribution for advancement.

Recently, the Frisco Arts association invited the whole city for a spectacular performance night which was held in a Lincoln Experience Center, located next to the Frisco ford Center at The Star. Lincoln Experience Center is originally a car dealer shop, but it has decided to join the development of the local arts society that the center opened the place to be provided as an arts performing center. The Lincoln experience center will transform into a concert hall once more on May 2nd, and anyone can be invited to enjoy the music concert.