Art is a business. The processes and protocols that drive sales and encourage Houstonians to visit galleries and museums can be obscured from visitors, rendering so much of the work that drives the art scene invisible. Behind every successful exhibition is a butt-busting team of marketers, brokers, handlers, preservationists, graphic designers, janitors, interns, and others—sometimes with only one or two people working all of these jobs simultaneously. That’s where Melissa Richardson Banks of Mused Houston comes in.

Her weekly newsletter and calendar compile the arts-related events happening in the city, providing over 6,000 subscribers (for transparency’s sake, some of that 6,000 includes Houstonia staffers) with a free, comprehensive overview of what’s out there to support. Richardson Banks also maintains a blog with more in-depth information about local artists, with most coverage focusing on the visual arts (though performances for dance, theater, and music are also included). Because Mused is currently a one-woman operation, she isn’t able to list every opening, show, or activation—but there’s a link on the website to submit to the calendar at no cost. Richardson Banks still does her due diligence, calling or texting gallery owners directly to ensure she hasn’t missed something. “People can mark their calendars and go, and, evidently, it’s working,” she says. “I get a lot of comments from galleries or artists that say, ‘Oh my god. A lot of people came to our opening. They said they heard [about] it from your newsletter.’”

Mused officially launched in July 2023. It started as a private family group chat, where Richardson Banks would send a list of options for an evening’s entertainment. After learning so much about the local arts scene through her extensive on-the-ground research, she became her friends’ go-to for recommendations on where to go and what to see. Richardson Banks already had experience compiling events newsletters and writing about the arts from her time in Los Angeles. She didn’t see any reason why she couldn’t do the same in the service of Houstonians. Since the launch, Richardson Banks estimates she’s featured more than 2,500 events across 450 organizations.

“I’m really excited, because I’m given this privilege to really spotlight the incredible work of Houston’s artists, their curators, the galleries, the museums, and these alternative art spaces,” she says. “…It just gives me great joy to be that person that is helping to support all of these entities.”

In addition to the Mused calendar and newsletter, Richardson Banks runs the consulting business CauseConnect, which focuses on arts organizations, collectors, and artists. Comedian and actor Richard Anthony “Cheech”  Marin, best known as half of Cheech & Chong, is one of her most well-known clients; she’s been helping him grow and showcase his famous Chicano art collection—including at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, California—for 23 years.

Raised by an entrepreneur father in Flour Bluff, Texas, just outside of Corpus Christi, Richardson Banks carried an inherited passion for business when she moved to Los Angeles in 1993. At the time, museums weren’t as savvy about their marketing campaigns. So when there was a niche for sales and marketing professionals to assist with public outreach, she offered herself to fill it. “They were probably advertising, per se, but they weren’t really marketing…[and] being cohesive. Museums kind of worked in silos,” she says. “…[They] were doing some of that, but they wasn’t this comprehensive look at, ‘How do we market our shows? How do we get sponsorships?’ Getting corporate dollars was kind of frowned upon.”

Richardson Banks notes that the 1980s and ’90s were turning points for museums that wanted to increase their visibility and share more inclusive, welcoming messaging with potential visitors. Her services include helping clients with their marketing strategies, advising on which artists to feature, and working directly with artists hoping to connect with galleries, collectors, museums, and dealers. After moving from LA to Houston a decade ago, she expanded her offerings to include Space City, though she continues flying to California regularly for her West Coast clientele.

Dallas-based artist Gary T. Murphy of GTM’s Art World, who once lived in and routinely shows in Houston, considers Richardson Banks a tremendous asset to his marketing team. “Being a good artist these days, you have to have the mindset of a business owner…as a business owner, I don’t know everything. I don’t know all the right contacts; I don’t have all the experience, even though I think that I may know,” he says. “My job is to find the best, smartest, most knowledgeable people out there to help me in my business. So that goes back to the connection of knowing Melissa and kind of handpicking her.”

He first met Richardson Banks at a celebration at the Houston Club, where he was recognized as the Q3 Artist of the Quarter, and later asked her to include some of his upcoming works in the Mused newsletter. As Murphy got to know her better at other events, he realized he could really use her expertise and perspective. Richardson Banks’s institutional knowledge of the art world offers him a behind-the-scenes boost, making it possible for Murphy to get his art in front of the most notable industry names. “There’s so much in the Houston art community that happens behind the scenes that people just don’t see, they don’t hear about,” he says.

Redbud Arts Center also credits Richardson Banks for increasing its profile and facilitating the sale of some of its Chicano artworks to Marin. “She is a great connector to collectors, art enthusiasts, and the art spaces that we have in Houston,” says Tanja Peterson, the organization’s executive director.

Murphy agrees, referring to Richardson Banks as “a hub”—a central figure who brings people together and encourages them to form their own relationships. Right now, she dedicates about 15 hours per week to Mused, and is now actively recruiting “ambassadors” to expand coverage, aiming to reach a wider array of artists and arts organizations and give Houstonians a much more comprehensive view of what’s out there in the arts. “PR can do that from just telling a story,” she says.