The Director’s Commendation is a discretionary award honoring an artist whose work shines a light on the inclusive vision of Art Spark Texas. Jonah Dillon is a young painter living with muscular dystrophy. His paint brush are the wheels of his wheelchair, driving over puddles of paint, usually supplied by his artist assistant. It all started with catsup and then moved on to other liquids, just to see how far they would squirt and the patterns they would make. Liquid paint was soon to follow. He may not be able to see what is happening under the wheels of his chair but he knows what colors he is working with, and the direction his wheels are going when he crisscrosses the canvas.

He explains his process like this:

“The main thing that has influenced my creative process is living with muscular dystrophy. The progression of my disease is what led to the way I create my artwork now…The idea started small: I’d been recording videos of running my wheels over things, just to see what happened. One day I wondered what would happen with paint instead. My first attempt was 10 dollars of tempera paint on cheap paper — just to see if

the idea would even work. It did, and I’ve been creating this way ever since.

For his creative spirit and unique, free-form painting style that invites people to see different things, without a prescribed image or outcome, Jonah Dillon is the recipient of the 2026 Directors Commendation award.