Abilene, Taylor County, Texas
Thanks in large part to the Municipal Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT), Abilene is transformed from a dying West Texas town, to the Storybook Capital of America.
In the early 1980s, Abilene’s downtown was lifeless. City leadership realized that repurposing abandoned buildings into art facilities was the most likely way to breathe life into the city center. Partnering with the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, (the HOT supported arts entity for the city to provide staffing), the Dodge Jones Foundation and a host of other donors, revitalization began. Several buildings were subsequently renovated into beautiful art facilities, providing a magnet to draw life and tourists to the downtown. Over the next 12 years three major arts institutions were established, bringing with them restaurants and businesses: The Paramount Theatre (1985), The Center for Contemporary Arts (1989) and The Grace Museum (1992).
Momentum was building, when two years later, then Mayor Gary McCaleb was invited to an elementary school to read “Santa Calls” by William Joyce. Mr. Joyce subsequently came to Abilene, and during his visit, the decision was made to establish a museum that would celebrate storybooks that exhibit and promote outstanding original art from the finest children’s literature. The city embraced this focus on storybooks as it would be authentic, unique and appeal to a diverse and multi-generational audience. It would also reinforce Abilene’s family friendly sense of community and belief that “what’s good for children is good for our community.” The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature was established in 1997.
Local foundations, the City, the Convention & Visitors Bureau, businesses, universities, the Texas Commission on the Arts and generous patrons all came together to play a pivotal role in a series of projects that would propel the community on its’ thirty year journey to become the Storybook Capital of America (2017).
Subsequent programs that HOT helped make possible are:
The Storybook Sculpture Project - Started in 1996 with a major commission, “Childhood’s Great Adventure” based on William Joyce’s “Santa Calls”. Abilene’s Storybook Collection, the largest collection in the United States, has now grown to more than thirty- five bronze sculptures based on beloved storybook characters and placed throughout the downtown. Beloved residents include the Cat in the Hat, Stuart Little, and Charlotte & Wilbur.
The Annual Children’s Art & Literacy Festival. Each June this festival celebrates the work of the artist exhibiting at the National Center for children’s Illustrated Literature. The goal is to encourage reading and creativity through dramatic readings, Storybook Parade, costumed characters, creative art activities and a host of other family friendly activities. In 2019 attendees came from 91 Texas cities and 12 states as far away as California and Pennsylvania.
The Storybook Bench Project – Seventy one limestone benches located throughout downtown with quotes from storybooks that convey values, (honesty, integrity, perseverance) inspiring parents to read and discuss some of the best literature of all time.
The Adamson Spalding Storybook Garden- on the grounds of the Abilene Convention Center, the Garden is home to seven of the of the storybook sculptures, and forty-one storybook benches. It is notable that five of the sculptures are based on characters by the most recognized illustrator of his generation, Garth Williams.
In fall of 2019 the city named two major downtown streets, Santa Calls Lane and Storybook Way, further emphasizing the growing role the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, storybooks and art partners have played in the forty year evolution of the city, from a dying West Texas town, to the Storybook Capital of America, thanks in large part to the Municipal Hotel Occupancy Tax.
