History
The Art Colony Association (ACA), producer of the Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park, is a Texas non-profit organization that, to date, has donated close to $3.5 million to Houston charities. In 1971, Houston's Montrose-area retail owners and residents came together to start a community arts and crafts festival. Due to the success of the first festival, the group organized the Westheimer Colony Association (WCA), and by 1973, the WCA began producing two small art and crafts festivals each year with proceeds used to beautify the surrounding areas with esplanade plantings. In 1976, the WCA became a federally recognized 501(c)-4 non-profit organization that donated proceeds from its festivals to charitable organizations in the Houston community. In 1995, the WCA changed its name to the Art Colony Association (ACA). In the spring of 1997, the Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park made its debut and achieved the Festival's largest attendance while celebrating its 25th anniversary.