New Braunfels is going all in on the arts, signing off on a 15-year roadmap that could reshape where residents listen, watch, gather and celebrate across the fast-growing Hill Country city.
City officials have adopted a 15-year Arts & Culture Master Plan that lays out how to grow performances, festivals and public art, while also boosting visibility for Mexican American and Black communities. The plan leans on new venues, public-art corridors and stronger programming support to keep local artists at the center of that growth.
The New Braunfels City Council unanimously approved the 2026 Arts & Culture Master Plan at its regular meeting on April 27, the city said. In a news release, Economic and Community Development Director Jeff Jewell called the document a “roadmap” to expand programming, support artists and strengthen cultural destinations across the city, according to the City of New Braunfels.
What’s in the plan
The 126-page strategy sorts its recommendations into four big buckets: programming and cultural experiences; places and spaces; visibility and tourism; and operations and capacity building. Those priorities grew out of stakeholder interviews, focus groups and community surveys that stretched into 2025, as documented by Designing Local.
Big ideas: venues, festivals and public art
Stakeholders did not hold back on the wish list. Suggestions include turning the New Braunfels Civic & Convention Center into a cultural arts center and exploring a brand-new 1,500–2,000-seat performance venue. The plan also points to launching a film festival and a higher-profile food-and-wine event tied to the Culinary Institute of America’s San Antonio campus.
On the street level, the strategy calls for a downtown cultural district and a public-art gateway into downtown along Seguin Avenue to connect events, murals and other installations. Existing hubs such as the Brauntex Theatre and the Comal County Fairgrounds are tagged as anchors for expanded programming, according to reporting and agenda documents cited by Community Impact.
Money and limits
For all the ambition, the master plan does not automatically greenlight any construction or write any checks. Instead, it lays out options, phasing and scenarios where public dollars could help unlock bigger projects.
The document recommends exploring a public art fund that could bring in roughly $150,000–$250,000 a year from hotel-occupancy or capital-project revenue, and it underscores that private partners and foundations would have to shoulder much of the cost of larger build-outs, according to the Express-News.
What comes next
Designing Local was selected by the city in April 2025 to lead the planning effort and worked with a nine-member steering committee. The project site details the engagement tools and timeline used to pull in feedback from local creatives.
Council signed off on the plan by resolution on April 27. The official council documentation is available in the New Braunfels agenda packet, and the full set of plan materials and the engagement portal are hosted at the New Braunfels Arts & Culture Master Plan.
