Michele Oka Doner

Michele Oka Doner is an internationally renowned artist whose career spans six decades. Her work is fueled by a lifelong study and appreciation of the natural world, from which she derives her formal vocabulary. The breadth of her artistic production encompasses sculpture, drawing, public art, functional objects, video, artist books, and costume and set design. She is well known for creating numerous permanent art installations throughout the United States, including Flight at Reagan International Airport, Arlington, VA, Radiant Site at the Herald Square MTA station, New York and the mile and quarter bronze and terrazzo concourse, A Walk on the Beach at Miami International Airport, seen by 40 million travelers annually. 

Oka Doner’s work is found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Institute of Arts, The Louvre’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Victoria & Albert, London, and the University of Michigan, Oxford, Yale and Harvard university art museums, among others. She has received numerous awards, including those given by United Nations Society of Writers and Artists, Pratt Institute, New York State Council of the Arts and the Knight Foundation. She was first Artist in Residence at the New York Botanical Garden. In 2016 she received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from The University of Michigan, where she earned her undergraduate and MFA degrees. Oka Doner is the author or subject of numerous books, including Everything Is Alive (2017) from Regan Arts press and Intuitive Alphabet (2017), TRA Publishing. Born and raised in Miami Beach, Michele Oka Doner was made Guardian of the City of Miami Beach’s Centennial Banyan Tree and represents Miami Beach as Ambassador for Arts and Culture in 2021. She maintains a home and studio in New York City. 

This event is a part of the 10^th Naming Anniversary Celebration of the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design. September 20, 2022 marks ten years since the naming of the school in honor of Penny W. Stamps for the remarkable gift she and her husband E. Roe Stamps made to support art and design education at the University of Michigan. The event will celebrate this milestone and reflect on the legacy of the school.

In partnership with the 10^th Naming Anniversary Celebration of the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design.

Series presenting partners: Detroit Public Television and PBS Books. Media partner: Michigan Radio.