Right Frame of Mind

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For David Guion, executive director of the Dublin Arts Council, an appreciation for the arts started early.

Guion, 52, grew up in Lancaster, Pa. where, as a young boy, he was a gymnast, dancer and oil painter. This led to participating in theater in high school and beyond, into his college years.

“I never stopped my involvement (in the arts),” says Guion, who has been involved in arts management for more than 25 years. “It was a natural progression to move into arts administration.”

Guion says it’s impossible to pinpoint an exact moment when he knew a career in the arts was a right fit for him, but says he was drawn by the work of the late realist painter Andrew Wyeth.

During Christmastime, Guion and his family would visit the Brandywine River Museum, a museum of American and regional art in Chadds Ford, Pa. and admire the paintings. 

“I wanted to paint like Andrew Wyeth,” Guion says.

The Ohio State University’s art education master’s program – now known as arts administration education and policy – was the reason Guion came to Ohio after he completed his bachelor’s degree in hotel, restaurant and institutional management at Pennsylvania State University, he says.

By 1989, he found himself drawn to New York City after watching dancer and choreographer Trisha Brown and her company perform at the Wexner Center for the Arts.

“I went backstage and said I wanted to work for her,” Guion says. “It was kind of like your typical understudy story – going backstage and asking for a job.”

Guion interviewed in New York and landed the position of office manager and arts coordinator.

Guion’s work for the Trisha Brown Dance Company helped his career in arts management take off. In 1991, he worked as a development associate for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. By 1992, he was serving as the executive director of the Erick Hawkins Dance Foundation and, by 1995, he was the director of development for the Cunningham Dance Foundation.

It was in New York City, working for the Cunningham Dance Foundation, that Guion says he received his best piece of advice – advice that he’s carried with him over the course of his career. He says he even uses it as a teaching tool in his OSU classrooms, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses.

One evening, he was preparing for a board meeting. The staff was struggling to figure out how to raise $100,000 to meet budget. They questioned whether or not to approach additional foundations or make an appeal.

“A doctor on the board of directors said, ‘No children have died because of the decisions we have made today.’ That really put things into perspective,” Guion says. “Putting things into perspective is key in arts management.”

His career skyrocketing, Guion found himself across the country and 30 minutes south of San Francisco in Belmont, Calif., where he served as the development director of the Charles Armstrong School, a school for children with language-based learning disabilities such as dyslexia. At the school, Guion’s background in art still had the chance to shine through.  

“(The school) had a concentration in arts, theater and music development,” Guion says. During his time there, Guion raised over half a million dollars annually through grants and other special events and crafted academic policies.

Guion’s career path led him back to Ohio, where he returned to complete his doctorate in art education – now education and policy – at OSU. During his time at the university, he says, he was encouraged to apply for an open position at the Dublin Arts Council.

He accepted the position of executive director in 2005 and has been there since.

Throughout his time with the Dublin Arts Council, Guion has had the opportunity to be a presenter at conferences across the globe, such as the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Annual International Contemporary Dance Conferences and Performance Festivals in Bytom, Poland.

He served as a presenter and panelist for the National Council of Culture and Arts in Santiago, Chile. In Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Guion presented the Dublin Arts Council as a case study for “understanding the multifaceted role of nonprofit community arts organizations.”

That background will surely help Guion as he continues to expand the Dublin Arts Council’s international reach. He also wants to continue using the Dublin Arts Council as a case study.

“I think we have a wealth of knowledge here,” he says.

Hannah Bealer is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.

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