Author: Emily Way

Dale Alexander brings a career’s worth of industry experience, creative energy, and mentorship into the classroom as a TAI adjunct. With a background that includes leading marketing efforts for the Dallas Mavericks, Dale approaches teaching with the same philosophy that has guided his professional life: enthusiasm, belief in the work, and a deep respect for the people behind the ideas. This spring, he will be teaching ADV 4343: Strategic Promotion Management, where students can expect a blend of real-world insight and strategic thinking.

One of the biggest lessons Dale carried with him from his time at the Mavericks is simple but powerful: enthusiasm matters.

Not performative hype or a “fake it till you make it” attitude, but genuine belief in the work. If he’s not excited about a project, presentation, or idea, he believes it’s unrealistic to expect a fan, client, or audience to be. That lack of belief shows up everywhere, from what’s written on the page to how someone carries themselves in a room.

Dale is also realistic. Not every project will be a dream assignment. What separates strong professionals is how they show up anyway. Those who resist the urge to coast through uninspiring work are the ones clients trust, leaders promote, and teammates enjoy working with. Enthusiasm, in that sense, becomes a differentiator.

Teaching feels like a natural extension of Dale’s career. Throughout his time in the industry, he’s always made space for interns and junior team members, both as a way to repay the support he received early on and to show that the advertising and marketing world can be a place where people genuinely want to build each other up.

That mindset defines his teaching style. Dale aims for a balance of “book smarts” and “street smarts,” helping students understand theory while also preparing them for the realities of agency, brand, and property-side work. His goal is to encourage students to take ownership of their careers sooner, to move from the passenger seat into the captain’s chair and gain momentum before graduation.

He’s also quietly campaigning for a new title: “RADjunct Professor.” Time will tell…

An ’80s kid who grew up in Southeast Asia, Dale didn’t have regular access to American television. Instead, family friends mailed VHS tapes filled with recorded shows, tapes he watched repeatedly until they wore out. Tucked between the programming were commercials, which quickly became his favorite part.

Those short, story-driven “mini-movies” sparked a lifelong fascination. Once Dale realized advertising was something you could actually do for a living, the path became clear. The idea that something you create could stick with someone – through a jingle, a visual, or a message – continues to motivate his work.

One influence that often surprises students is how much improv has shaped Dale’s life and career. Beyond meeting his wife at a college audition, studying improv taught him how to listen more closely, stay present, and build on the ideas of others.

Throughout his career, Dale has used improv techniques with teams to push people outside their comfort zones and remind them that creativity isn’t limited by job titles. Strategy and ideas can come from anyone. In many ways, he believes everyone is already improvising in daily life by responding to situations without a script. Learning improv simply strengthens that muscle so it’s ready when it matters most.

When it comes to legacy, Dale doesn’t point to a single campaign or achievement. For him, creativity is most meaningful when it’s shared. While solo success has its place, he believes the real value lies in building something alongside others – celebrating the wins, laughing about the failures, and appreciating the climb together!

Starting his career at the bottom gave Dale perspective on both success and setback. Looking ahead, his hope is that the people he’s worked with feel their time together was worthwhile. If that’s what he leaves behind, he considers that a creative legacy worth having – even if “RADjunct Professor” never fully catches on. Welcome to TAI Dale, we are thrilled to have you join us!

We’re excited to introduce a new feature celebrating our talented adjunct faculty shaping the creative minds of SMU, beginning with sculptor, designer, educator, and community mentor Art Garcia. Art teaches ADV 4368: Graphic Design for Digital Media, where his practice and belief in visual storytelling guide students in exploring design through research, experimentation, and cultural context.

For more than 30 years, Art has built a career rooted deeply in Texas. From early days designing environmental graphics for public spaces, to sculptural installations shown in parks and galleries across the nation, his work is a testament to storytelling through form, material, and place.

Texas isn’t just home for Art, it’s a wellspring of influence. “Our social discourse is prevalent in our society, and it seems more so today than any other time,” he reflects. His creative practice draws on environment, culture, and personal history to create pieces that speak visually where words fall short.

Art founded his studio, Graphic Content, in 1998 with a vision of crafting meaningful communication arts. Economic shifts during the 2010s led the work to evolve into a sculpture-focused practice, an evolution that expanded rather than narrowed his voice. Today, his work lives across sculpture parks, galleries, and civic spaces, always committed to “fostering a visual dialogue transcending the spoken word.”

Beyond his studio, Art’s legacy extends into mentorship and youth development. As founder of the Oak Cliff Wrestling Club, he empowered athletes by encouraging them to develop resilience, discipline, pride, and the possibility of something different.

Art approaches teaching the way he approaches art: with rigor, curiosity, and humanity.

His mantra for students is simple:
“Research, practice, experiment, fail. Repeat. The byproduct of this process is success.”

Color, material, and context are core to his practice, and he challenges students to think conceptually and visually – “Speak with iconography and use words only when you have to.”

In the classroom Art bridges life, technology, and culture. He sees AI not as a threat, but as the next frontier – just as early computers once stirred uncertainty in the art world. “We’ve adapted before,” he says. “How cool will it be to acclimate with this new technology?”

Asked what inspires him most, Art refuses to choose: “Everything art, my contemporaries, my grandchildren, nature, beings large and small… Everything must be included to establish your journey, otherwise voids will occur.”

His advice to emerging artists?
“Become relentless in studying your craft. Make, make, make and understand failure is only a stepping stone to succeed.”

From whimsical palettes to metal, wood, fibers, and found objects, Art follows curiosity over convention. He’s currently creating a public art piece informed by Eadweard Muybridge and along with Jay Sullivan, Professor Emeritus of Art, Meadow School of the Arts, he is producing a fine-art catalogue exploring typography, image and print; two very different pursuits, united by material and concept.

And in true Art fashion even his high school wrestling story reads like sculpture – shaped by grit, humor, and resilience.

With works recently acquired by the City of Sheridan, Wyoming, a new outdoor exhibit, “The Finley Park Cultural Stroll” in Columbia, South Carolina and in January an upcoming exhibition called “Sculpture on the Lawn” in Orlando, Florida. Art continues to build, inspire, and imagine what’s possible for the next generation of artists and thinkers.

Welcome to our first Adjunct Edition spotlight. And Art, thank you for sharing your creative world with ours.