Program director for arts and parks at Houston Endowment to serve as research center’s ambassador to national arts sector  

Dallas (SMU), TX, February 4, 2025 – SMU DataArts, the national center for arts research based at SMU Meadows School of the Arts has named Bao-Long Chu, program director for arts and parks at Houston Endowment, as its fourth Nasher Haemisegger Fellow, effective February 3, 2025. SMU DataArts leverages data and innovative research techniques to provide strategic insights to the arts and cultural sector. Long will serve as an intellectual partner and counsel, working with SMU DataArts leadership on critical issues within arts and culture. He will also serve as an ambassador for SMU DataArts, communicating with funders, arts organizations, and other constituents of the national arts sector and helping to raise awareness about SMU DataArts’ research.

Chu brings a wealth of experience to the role. At Houston Endowment, he convenes arts leaders to foster collaboration across the sector as well as oversees grantmaking strategies to strengthen arts and culture nonprofits in Houston.

The power of art to share and connect human stories inspires his work. Chu also serves on the board of directors of Grantmakers in the Arts.

Originally from Vietnam, his passion for writing led him to obtain a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from University of Houston. He has written and presented extensively on writing pedagogy, the connection between art and the refugee experience, and nonprofit programming. During his role as the associate director of the literary-education nonprofit Writers in the Schools, he developed his extensive background in literacy, arts, and community engagement.

Chu’s poems and essays have been published in several anthologies, including The New Anthology of American Poetry: Postmodernisms 1950-Present and From Both Sides Now: The Poetry of the Vietnam War and Its Aftermath. His libretto for the opera Bound, composed by Huang Ruo, premiered in Houston in 2014, New York in 2019, and Seattle in 2023. Long also holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and psychology from Houston Christian University.

“The SMU DataArts Nasher Haemisegger Fellow plays an integral role in helping us shape and share our findings as well as identify the most pressing questions and issues facing the field,” said Dr. Jennifer Benoit-Bryan, director of SMU DataArts. “Bao-Long Chu stands out as storyteller and advocate adept at crystalizing the needs of the arts community and steering diverse stakeholders towards a shared vision. He will be a tremendous partner in connecting our analysis and data to the strategic questions facing the arts sector and supporting our efforts to communicate with nuance and clarity.”

“I’m honored to be named a Nasher Haemisegger Fellow and further SMU Data Arts’ critical mission,” said Chu. “With high-quality data and evidence-based resources, the arts sector can better tell the story of its impact and increase vibrancy in our community.”

Chu’s two-year term follows the successful tenure of previous Nasher Haemisegger Fellows Ted Russell (2021-24), Karen Brooks Hopkins (2016-21), and Kate Levin (2014-16). Russell is an independent consultant and the former director of arts strategy and ventures at the Kenneth Rainin Foundation. Hopkins is the former president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music and former senior fellow in residence at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and is now a senior advisor and board member of the Onassis Foundation and a board member of the Jerome L. Greene Foundation. Levin was commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs under the Bloomberg administration. She is now a principal with Bloomberg Associates and oversees the Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts Program, supporting a range of organizations in the United States and around the world.