Bless Your Art.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings To Proclaim April 7 through 14 as Dallas Arts Week.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings has been a busy dude as of late.

In the past month alone, he's accomplished the following: He held a male-focused rally against domestic violence that drew the support Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famers Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith, among others; he helped bring a free teen driving safety program to Fair Park; and, hell, he even stretched his acting chops and — get this — played the role of the mayor of Dallas on a recent episode of TNT's Dallas.

But the former Pizza Hut CEO hasn't built his reputation as one of the most well-liked Dallas mayors in recent memory by resting on his laurels. And, after noticing a whole slew of art-related happenings going down this month (The Dallas Art Fair, Dallas Art Ball, ARTsPARK, the Dallas International Film Festival, League of Historic American Theatres Conference, the installation of new public art works at Dallas Love Field airport, and the dedication of a historical marker for Dallas Black Dance Theatre, just to name a few), Rawlings has decided to officially proclaim April 7 through 14 as “Dallas Arts Week.”

He'll do so today during a noon press conference at City Hall, during which time he'll also proclaim the month of April as Dallas Jazz Appreciation Month (or the awkward acronym D'JAM) to coincide with the 13th annual national Jazz Appreciation Month.

Per a press release sent out late yesterday, the proclamations also come with an accompanying photo contest. Here's that portion of the release:

Everyone in Dallas is encouraged to participate in the arts April 7-14, 2013. Take a photo of your art event (where allowed) and post it to social media with the hashtag #DallasArtsWeek. Photos with the hashtag will be entered to win some prizes.

Grand Prize #1: An overnight stay at The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, two Friends of the Park memberships, The Crow Collection of Asian Art Pearl Level membership, two tickets to “Avenue Q” at Theatre Three and a beer flight and growlers from Craft and Growler. (Additional prizes to come)

Grand Prize #2: One weekend night stay at The Fairmont Dallas including complimentary valet parking, two Friends of the Park memberships, two Dallas Historical Society memberships, two tickets for Kitchen Dog Theater, a personalized tour of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and two tickets to Dallas Black Dance Theatre's Spring Celebration Series at Wyly Theatre. (Additional prizes to come).

And people say the powers that be in this town don't support the arts. Well, OK, maybe they don't. But, hey, maybe this is a start.

Cover photo by Heather Abbott.