Jonah Dillon rolls over a canvas with his paint-covered wheelchair tires in a video projected during a celebration Sunday at the Rollins Studio Theatre inside the Long Center for Performing Arts.
The Austin-based visual artist was one of six artists honored at Art Spark Texas’ 2026 Artists of the Year Award Celebration. Dillon, who has muscular dystrophy, said the award proves to him that people respect his message with his artwork.
“I hope to show people that no matter what, if you want to do something, you can find a way to do it,” said Dillon, who received the Director’s Commendation Award for his inventive work and adaptability.
Art Spark Texas has hosted its Artists of the Year celebration for the past nine years.
The free public celebration, now in its ninth year, recognizes artists whose work reflects creativity, leadership and making the arts more inclusive.
“A lot of what we’re trying to do is raise up and celebrate the artists,” Art Spark Executive Director Celia Hughes said. “But we’re also tying it back to their commitment and what these people are doing in the community to increase awareness and hopefully make some positive societal change.”
This year’s honorees received awards recognizing their work across a range of artistic disciplines. Filmmaker Penny LeLeux received the Lynn Marie Johnson Media Arts Award for her Barefoot on the Bayou Group, which focuses on making films along Texas’ Interstate 10 corridor. Austin painter and recent UT Austin graduate Rachel Salcido received the SPARK Award honoring emerging artists.
Recent UT Austin grad Rachel Salcido received the SPARK Award, which recognizes up-and-coming artists in Texas.
Wimberley artist Pebbles Wadsworth received the Gloria Bond Creative Aging Award, and Glenn Towery — a Waco-based Vietnam veteran, screenwriter and filmmaker — got the Creative Veteran Service Award.
San Antonio actress and director Donna Provencher received the Haven Street-Allen Artist of the Year Award for her work directing a sensory-friendly performance of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, allowing audience members to move freely throughout the show. As an individual diagnosed with autism and ADHD, she said she wanted to create a show that she could’ve participated in as a child and that her kids can be a part of now.
“Too often we’re trying to retroactively take environments that aren’t designed for disabled people and sort of retrofit features onto them to make them work, as opposed to just designing an environment that would work for everybody regardless,” she said. “If you build in the inclusive practices from the jump, it makes a really big difference.”
The afternoon brought together artists, families, supporters and community members for presentations and performances. The event also marked Art Spark Texas’ 30th anniversary, celebrating three decades of creating opportunities for artists with disabilities and veterans.
“This is really about getting people to come together, to create friendships and being included in the community through arts-based activities,” Hughes said.