Clint Willour to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

by Paula Newton August 12, 2015
Willour with the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Anne Wilkes Tucker

Willour with the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Anne Wilkes Tucker

The unstoppable Clint Willour will receive the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Houston Fine Art Fair, (HFAF) which takes place September 9-12. Willour will be honored on Saturday, September 12, at 1-2pm in HFAF’s theater, with a VIP reception to follow.

Willour has lived and worked in Texas since 1970 and has been an uncanny presence at gallery and museum openings in Houston for decades (How can one man be in so many places at once?). Willour has been curator of the Galveston Art Center for more than 20 years; he helped found Art Houston and the Galveston Art Walk; and has been a leader of FOTOFEST International since its inception in 1984. He sits on 4 committees at the MFAH (including the prestigious acquisitions committee) and countless public and private art councils, panels and boards. Over the years, he has donated his art collection to the MFAH, valued at over $1 million (even though he has never earned more than $40k a year).

Says Rebecca Cohen, art critic for the Austin Chronicle, “Willour is the unsung hero of Texas art. I think Clint has done more for mid-career artists and arts institutions in the state than anyone else in Texas.”

Also being recognized at HFAF will be Michelle Swain Barnes, co-founder and executive director of the Community Artists’ Collective, who will receive the Illumination Award for Achievement in Arts Education on September 9, and Lester Marks, who will honored as Arts Patron of the Year on September 10.

(Image: Still from YouTube video “HCP Interview with Anne Tucker and Clint Willour.” Courtesy of Dory Michels.)

22 comments

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22 comments

Rainey Knudson August 12, 2015 - 09:11

We recently shot a video interview with Clint, coming soon.

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David August 12, 2015 - 18:50

Way to go, Clint! Truly unstoppable!!

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Diane Palm August 12, 2015 - 22:47

Congratulations to Michelle Barnes and Clint Willour, two deserving award recipients.

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Lynn Goode August 13, 2015 - 07:34

Bravo! A well deserved honor for a beloved soul.

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Sarah Greene Reed August 13, 2015 - 08:03

Wonderful! Clint certainly helped me. Thrilled that’s he’s being honored. Just wish I could be there to celebrate!

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Valerie August 13, 2015 - 10:28

So thrilled for everyone! Your honors are well deserved!!!

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Laura Wiegand August 13, 2015 - 10:34

This is great news! Congratulations to both Clint and Michelle from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

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Kristina Spritzer August 13, 2015 - 10:36

Well deserved! Clint’s enthusiasm of Houston’s art community has helped launched and support so many artists. We love Clint!

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annette carlozzi August 13, 2015 - 10:37

What a brilliant slate of honorees! And you know they’ll all just keep on giving, in all the ways they do. Amazing folk, congratulations.

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Mary Magsamen August 13, 2015 - 11:20

Congratulations to Clint! He is most deserving!!!

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burt August 13, 2015 - 11:22

Congratulations Clint…no one is more deserving…
Best Wishes,
Burt/Missy

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Mary Shaffer August 13, 2015 - 12:04

Well deserved honor!! You are the best!!! xox, mary

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Edward McCartney August 13, 2015 - 15:28

Way to go, Clint! Congratulations to the most omnipresent man in the Houston art world.

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Steve Dennie August 13, 2015 - 16:27

Congratulations Clint! You deserve it and more.

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Fran Sanders August 14, 2015 - 05:01

Congratulations, Michelle!

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Celia August 14, 2015 - 13:19

Clint deserves this honor more than anyone else in the State of Texas — and other states too, I suspect. GAC wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for him. Congratulations, dear friend and mentor. We are so grateful for you.

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Kim Steinhagen August 14, 2015 - 21:10

Congratulations, Clint! Well deserved!

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Marian August 15, 2015 - 17:38

Congratulations to Clint and Michelle! Houston is so privileged to have you in our midst.

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Rusty Arena August 18, 2015 - 17:54

Bravo !!! Clint, you so deserve this acknowledgement !

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teresa August 19, 2015 - 06:18

Dear Clint, You deserve this award thousand times. I still remember rescuing my drawings after a flood that took place in Galveston one summer. A whole life dedicated to art.

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marjorie moore August 20, 2015 - 17:18

Clint, We thank you for your dedication and love for art, you have made all of our lives and our work feel valuable. A million thanks for everything!
Best wishes,
Marjorie Moore

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dee wolff August 23, 2015 - 20:27

Dear Clint: There is no one who I know that deserves this honor more than you. It is a small thing compared to everything that you have done over the years for not only Houston, but the Texas art community. You are now and have always been a person of honor and love in my heart.
Dee

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