I worked with Dion McInnis for more than ten years. Not only did he help raise significant funds for art initiatives at University of Houston-Clear Lake, he led the process with vision, strategies and tactics that were easy for the faculty members to understand. As an art professor for my entire career, my work has always been the creation of art and teaching others. I did not fully understand the processes of conceptualizing ideas, developing plans, creating a vision that would be fundable and working with the internal and external constituencies to benefit the arts. He taught me as he worked with me and others to raise funds. Perhaps one reason we collaborated so well is because Dion is an artist, too.

I believe that the success of the International Art Consortium that I manage is due to a large extent because of Dion’s help over the past few years. Not only did he help secure the funds, but he also served as an art-aware ambassador to national and international artists for the benefit of the consortium and the university.

Many faculty members benefited from his mentoring and coaching ways. His vision led to hundreds of thousands of dollars for the arts. His guidance continues to serve me as I develop ideas for art programs and outreach that serve multiple aspects of the university’s mission and plans.