Miranda Lambert is '100% Texas': 5 takeaways from the Texas Medal of Arts Awards

Everything's bigger in Texas — including its celebration of the arts.

Actors, singers, dancers and more all gathered at the Long Center for the Performing Arts Wednesday evening for the Texas Medal of Arts Awards, an initiative from the Texas Cultural Trust.

This year's honorees were:

• Miranda Lambert (Lindale) for music/songwriter

• Luke Wilson (Dallas) for film/actor

• Taylor Sheridan (Weatherford) for film/producer

• Christopher Cross (San Antonio) for music

• Lela Rose (Dallas) for fashion

• Deborah Roberts (Austin) for visual arts

• Center for Performing Arts Medicine (Houston) for arts in health

• Juan Miró and Miguel Rivera (Austin) for architecture

• Benjamin Alire Sàenz (El Paso) for literary arts

• Septime Webre (Brownsville) for dance

Here are five takeaways from the awards show honoring some of the best artists in Texas, a state that Miranda Lambert told the Statesman she'll always hold dear to her heart.

"Being a Texan, it means everything to me," Lambert said. "I'm 100% Texas through and through. I always say I'm a T state girl because my heart's a little split sometimes because I love Tennessee, too. But my whole family's in Texas. I grew up in East Texas, and so being here tonight and having our state lift up the arts is just incredible."

Bringing art to Uvalde children

Show attendees heard about several Texas Cultural Trust projects, including one called Art Boxes. The initiative provides Title 1 elementary schoolers with art supplies to take home so they can continue fostering their creativity.

A spokesperson said the Texas Cultural Trust sent Art Boxes to children in Uvalde "to encourage them to express their complex emotions" about the school shooting tragedy on May 24, 2022.

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Honoring Carole Cook

Actress Carole Cook, an Abilene native, passed away on Jan. 11 of this year. The Texas Medal of Arts honored her with a lifetime achievement/musical theatre award, and the program took time to highlight her legacy.

That included showing a video of her singing performance in the Australian company of "Hello, Dolly!" as well as highlighting her fight against HIV/AIDS and close friendship with actress Lucille Ball.

Cook starred alongside Ball several times as a guest on "The Lucy Show." The late Baylor University graduate is also known for her roles in the film "Sixteen Candles" and the original Broadway productions of "42nd Street" and "Romantic Comedy."

Young Masters take the stage

The Texas Young Masters, another Texas Cultural Trust initiative, had a chance to shine on stage with a joint performance from Young Masters dancer Christian Burse and Young Masters violinist Suhaas Patil.

The Texas Young Masters provides $10,000 scholarships to 15 eighth- through eleventh-grade artists every two years.

"Without this program, I would not be in New York City living my dreams," Burse said following her performance.

Burse is an apprentice at Complexions Contemporary Ballet in New York. Patil is a senior at Westwood High School in Austin.

An acoustic performance from Miranda Lambert

Honoree Lambert took to the stage alongside friends and fellow singers Jack Ingram and Jon Randall to perform "Two-Step Down to Texas" and "In His Arms." The songs come from the trio's 2021 album "The Marfa Tapes."

"I feel like I've heard the word 'Texas' tonight more than I ever have in my whole life, and I don't hate it!' Lambert joked in-between songs.

Ending with a dynamic duet

Not only did honoree Christopher Cross sing his iconic song "Sailing," but he joined Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel in a finale performance of "On the Road Again." Several other honorees took to the stage to celebrate along with some of the young performers.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 5 takeaways from the Texas Medal of Arts Awards in Austin