Mary Vernon is emeritus Professor of Art at Southern Methodist University. Michael Frank Blair said of her in 2017: “Vernon’s legacy is living a certain kind of humanist ideal that holds that the product of work is always a more enlightened humanity.” She taught painting and drawing at SMU, as well as its noted color theory course. She was born in New Mexico, educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Vernon has shown her work internationally in France, Hungary, Chile, and Kazakhstan, as well as nationally. She is represented by Valley House Gallery of Dallas. Collections that include her work are: The Belo Foundation, The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, The Meadows Museum, The Department of State of the U.S. (U.S. Embassy, N’Djamena, Chad), The Dallas Country Club, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center: William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, along with many private collectors. (2018)