“This is my seventh time to see Shen Yun. I’ve been attending your performances in Houston, and it is one of the highlights when you come and we are able to see this. So on behalf of the City of Tomball, I would like to give you a proclamation,” Mayor Lori Klein Quinn said.
“We are very honored for you being here during this tour. The Performing Arts presents opportunities for members of the public to attend live theatrical and cultural events, to hear your story, and to share your message, and we thank you very much. So therefore I, Lori Klein Quinn, Mayor of the City of Tomball, do hereby proclaim Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, as Shen Yun Day.”
Grace Handley, the district director representing Texas House Representative Tom Oliverson, presented Shen Yun with a resolution to honor their achievements—“that Shen Yun Performing Arts be congratulated on the 20th anniversary of its founding and that its performers and staff be commended for their ongoing artistic achievements and cultural contributions.”
“It is just so beautiful. You can’t explain in words, it’s one of these things that is a must see. You have to come in and see it, to get to feel the whole value of that performance,” Ms. Handley said. “The part where the Falun Gong [practitioners] were not being welcomed in their own country—where it’s hard for them to practice something that we in the United States take for granted, that they’re not able to express themselves, that they don’t have that freedom in China—that was sad, but I understand they need to expose that to the rest of the world. So I understand what the message was, and that was the part that it hurts, it hurts a lot, but we need to bring that awareness to the rest of the world so we can hopefully try to fix it in the future.”
Kathy Kelley, the former director of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, said, “It’s amazing. It’s the part of history that I didn’t know, and it’s telling a historical story that I had no idea.”
Physician Vernon Zurick said, “It’s wonderful. They have wonderful colors, and the dancing is fantastic, and the storyline of resisting communism is really fantastic. Communist China is a very formidable foe on the world stage, so we very much appreciate having Chinese ethnic voices that say that there’s a better way to do things.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun has been touring the globe since 2006, and has since grown to eight different companies. Each performance carries a message of spirituality, kindness, and beauty—values found at the heart of traditional Chinese culture.
“The two vocalists, the gentleman and the lady; the songs that they sang, and being able to see exactly what words they were using, that just carried the heart of the whole message of the whole show—the whole idea that we lose focus on salvation, and how important our God is in the role of being the Savior,” Ms. Kelley said. “And for us to worship Him in every way we can, including taking care of one another.”
Ms. Handley said, “The performance was an honor. It was truly beautiful. It’s a lot of history, a lot of artistic value. I enjoyed every minute of it.”
