Donald H. Russell
Donald H. Russell
Assistant Professor
Contemporary art practices; art and society
Don Russell has been an active contemporary art curator and arts administrator since 1979. His research focuses on the exploration and development of new social contexts for art. He is currently GMU’s University Curator, responsible for programming exhibitions and public art on the Fairfax, Manassas and Arlington campuses. Additionally, he directs Provisions Research Center for Art & Social Change, providing creative resources for community-engaged public art projects. He is a co-founder with Edgar Endress of Floating Lab Collective.
Don has produced over one hundred exhibitions as well as public art commissions, residencies, conferences and field projects. His work spans all contemporary art media with particular emphasis on research-as-art, public art, new media, photography and artists’ publications.
Don has extensive experience managing and directing contemporary arts, philanthropic and publishing ventures. He is President of Art Resources International and previously served as Executive Director of Washington Project for the Arts and had various leadership positions at Visual Studies Workshop.
Current Research
Contemporary art practices in environmental science communication
Art museums as learning resources for higher education
Public art and placemaking
Expanded art practices
Art as Research
Selected Publications
Editor, Provisional Research Journal
Expanded Publication List
Grants and Fellowships
Gaea Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Open Society Foundations, CrossCurrents Foundation, Lambent Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Quixote Foundation, Metabolic Studios, George Mason University Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Arts Council, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, Institute for Museum and Library Services, Washington Post Companies, Philip L. Graham Fund, Meyer Foundation, Knight Foundation, Glen Eagles Foundation, Philip Morris Companies, US WEST, Best Buy, Abell Foundation, Cordish Company
Courses Taught
Honors Seminar, School of Art
Art as Social Action, School of Art
Education
MFA, InterArts, George Mason University, 2017
Recent Presentations
College Art Association, NYC
Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington, DC
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Duke University, Durham, NC
Center for Book Arts, NYC
Goethe Institut Washington, DC
