Curriculum Vitae 

Education; Professional Positions; Honors/Awards; Symposia (see “Exhibits/Collections" for list of exhibitions and collections)

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EDUCATION

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1978-80        City University of New York, Brooklyn College, M.F.A.

1977-79        New York Studio School, New York City, Painting/Drawing/Sculpture

1975-77        Univ. of Pittsburgh,  Graduate Studies in Painting, Printmaking, Art History, Philosophy

1975             Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1975.  Curatorial Practice Internship

1972             Universidad Ibero Americana, Mexico City, Art & Art History studies

1971-75        Westminster College, Pennsylvania, BA, Art and Political Science majors

                                                                                                                                                                                            

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Kimes is a distinguished teacher. . . I have been aware of his teaching at the New York Studio

School, at Chautauqua Institution and at the American University. In the case of all these

institutions, Kimes has made a distinct and powerful contribution, doing much to further their

reputations in the field. If the program at American University is now looked upon as one of the

most serious, demanding and lively art departments – which it is – Kimes is in a large part

responsible...The combination of active professional painter, distinguished teacher and talented

and wise academic administrator is extremely rare.

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                                                                                     Andrew Forge, Dean, Yale University School of Art

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PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS

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1988 -  current      

American University, Washington, DC

Professor of Studio Art 1996-current

Head of Studio Art: 19 years (1988-2004 and periodically since then)

Chair, Department of Art, 11 years (1990-2001 MFA, MA, BFA, BA programs)

Associate Professor of Art (1988-1996)

           

American University Art in Italy programs in Umbria, Rome and Florence 

Established undergraduate and MFA programs in Perugia, Corciano, and Rome,

Italy (1995-2006) and in Florence, Italy (2007-current)

 

Lead visual arts spokesperson in campaign which raised more than 22 million dollars

and led to construction of the 130,000 square foot Katzen Center for the Arts in

Washington, DC (opened in 2006)

 

Recipient, University Award for Outstanding Contributions to Academic Development

in recognition of contributions to the growth and national recognition of the university’s

visual arts programs, 2005 

                       

Faculty Honor Award, Graduate Student Council of American University 

Nominated by graduate students and selected in university wide competition in 1992. 

Award given in recognition of teaching and growth in the quality of, and national

respect for the Department of Art's M.F.A. program

                                                                                   

2018 - current

ACI Artists/Writers/Scholars Residency, Corciano, Italy

Founder/Artistic Director

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2023 - current

Art Lantern/New Art Examiner, Washington, DC and Cornwall, UK

President; Chair, Board of Trustees

 

2018 - 2022

New Art Examiner, Washington, DC

Chair, Board of Advisors

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1986 -  2018

The Chautauqua Institution, VACI  Chautauqua, NY 

Artistic Director

Founded VACI (Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution) through the merger of the Chautauqua

School of Art and the Chautauqua Art Association.  VACI includes Chautauqua School of Art,

the Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, the Strohl Art Center, the Melvin Johnson Sculpture Garden

and the Chautauqua Visual Arts lecture series

 

Established Advisory Council to the Artistic Director including:

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     Robert Storr (Dean, Yale School of Art, Commissioner 2007 Venice Biennale, Former 

       Curator Museum of Modern Art, NYC)

     Michael Gitlitz (Director, Marlborough Gallery, NYC)

     Judy Glantzman (Artist, Reprsented by Betty Cunningham Gallery, NYC)

     Glenn Goldberg (Artist, Represented by Jason McCoy Gallery, NYC)

     Louis Grachos (Director, Albright-Knox Gallery)

     Donald Kuspit (Distinguished Professor, SUNY Stonybrook, contr. Ed. Sculpture Magazine)

     Sharon Louden (Artist, Represented by Patrick Heide Contemporary, London)

     Barbara Rose (Independent Critic/Art Historian/Author)

     Stephen Westfall (Artist, contributor Art in America)

     Julian Zugazagoitia (Director, Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City)

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Lead visual arts spokesperson in campaign which raised 7.5 million dollars for construction

of new National Gallery museum standard exhibition facilities (8 galleries in two buildings), the

Melvin Johnson Sculpture Garden, renovation of the 100 year old Chautauqua School of Art

facilities, and visual arts endowments.

                  

1979-89    

New York Studio School, New York City

Faculty 1979-1988 (painting/drawing)

Asst. Program Director 1979-1980

Program Director 1980-1985

Faculty Chair and Board of Governors Chair 1981-1983

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VISITING ARTIST POSITIONS 

1986 – current (partial listing):

 

Accademia di Belle Arti, Perugia, Italy / Academy of Art, Riga, Latvia / Alfred University /

America House, Munich, Germany / American Academy in Rome / American University of Rome /

Bard College / Boston University / Carnegie Mellon University /Cleveland Inst. of Art / Connecticut

State University / Cooper Union / Dartmouth College /Eastern Carolina University / George Mason

University / Georgetown University / George Washington University / Georgia Regents University /

Harvard University / Haverford College / New York Academy of Art  / New York Studio School /

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art/ Penn State University / International School of Art, Italy /

Syracuse University / Parsons School of Design /  Skidmore College / SACI, Florence, Italy /

Lorenzo di Medici Institute, Florence, Italy / Tyler School of Art / Pennsylvania College of Art &

Design / Vassar College /  Valparaiso University / Pieve International, Corciano, Italy / SUNY Fredonia /

SUNY Stonybrook / University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy / University of California at Davis / Wellesley

College / Universidad Juarez Autonoma, Mexico / Westminster College, Pennsylvania / West Virginia

University / Western Carolina University and many others.

 

SYMPOSIA:

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2019            What is it to be a Washington, DC Artist in 2019

                    DC Art Center/ New Art Examiner 

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                    Alternative Residencies, Hamiltonian, Washington DC

                    A discussion with Katherine Mann and Don Kimes

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2017            Creativity Is Not a Luxury. It's a Survival Skill

                    Panel with Don Kimes, Danielle Tegeder and Denise Bibro

 

                    The Artist as Culture Producer

                    A conversation with Sharon Louden

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                    Homage to Mango Street

                    A conversation with Don Kimes and Denise Bibro about their co-curated 

                    exhibition of works by contemporary Latino artists Homage to Mango Street

                   

2015            Revery and Memory:  

                    The Work of Don Kimes, Carole Robb and Carol Brown Goldberg

                    Panel with the artists moderated by art historian Donald Kuspit

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2014            Academic Porn:  The Politics of Academia

                    College Art Association of America annual meeting

                    Sharon Louden, Artist, author Living and Sustaining a Creative Life

                    Jacki Apple, Artist, Professor Arts Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA

                    Jonathan Kalb, Professor, Hunter College, CUNY

                    David Cohen, writer, art critic, Art Critical.com

                    Buzz Spector, Dean, Washington Univerity - Fox School of Art

                    Don Kimes

 

                    Living and Sustaining a Creative Life

                    Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua, NY

                    Sharon Louden author, "Living and Sustaining a Creative Life"

                    Julie Heffernan, painter

                    Don Kimes

 

2011             Art and Spirituality

                    The Chautauqua Institution

                    Timothy Muffett, Conductor, Baton Rouge Symphony

                    Rocco Landesman, Chair, National Endowment for the Arts

                    Jean Pierre Bonnefoux, Artistic Director, Chautauqua School of Dance

                    Ethan McSweeney/Vivienne Benesch, co-Directors Chautauqua

                    Theater Company

                    Don Kimes

 

2009            The Visual Arts: Where Are We Now?

                    The Chautauqua Institution

                    Elaine King, Curator, Professor of Art/Critical Theory, Carnegie Mellon University 

                    Clayton Merrell, Associate Professor of Art, Carnegie Mellon University

                    Saul Ostrow, Dean Cleveland Institute of Art

                    Don Kimes

 

2006            Artistic Expression and Social Responsibility

                    Bratton Theater, The Chautauqua Institution

                    Carl Kurlander, screenwriter for "St. Elmo's Fire", TV writer/producer

                    Jay Lesinger, has directed operas seen across the country and in Europe

                    Mary Whitaker, musician and member of The American Composers Orchestra

                    Scott McVay, Founder Dodge Foundation, Advisory Board Storm King Art Center

                    Don Kimes

 

2005            Architecture and Art – Interface/Competition

                    The Chautauqua Institution

                    Gary Hulton, architect

                    Barbara Rose, critic/art historian

                    Tim Doud, faculty, American University

                    Don Kimes

 

2004            Sculpture at the Gori

                    Gori Sculpture Park, Pistoia, Italy

                    Robert Morris, Artist

                    Rosemarie Castoro, Artist

                    Barbara Rose, Critic/Historian

                    Don Kimes

 

2003           The State of Arts Education in the US

                   Syracuse University Lubin House, New York, NY

                   Brent Assink, Executive Director, San Francisco Symphony

                   Brian Kulick, Artistic Director, Classic Stage Company

                   James Oestreich, classical music editor for The New York Times

                   Carlin Romano, literary critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer

                   Eric Gibson, Leisure & Arts Features Editor, The Wall Street Journal,

                       former executive editor of ARTnews

                   Marlena Malas, Soprano, faculty Manhattan School of Music, Julliard,

                       The Curtis Institute, and the Canadian Opera Center

                   Ethan McSweeny, awards and nominations include a Tony nomination,

                       Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards

                   Mario Mercado, Arts Editor of Travel + Leisure magazine

                   Don Kimes

 

2002           A Critical Dialogue: Dance and Painting Liz Lerman Dance Project

                   Smith Wilkes Amphitheater, Chautauqua Institution

                   Presentation including Kimes’ 96” x 240” mixed media on steel piece “Fragment” 

                   in conjunction with Liz Lerman Dance Project of NYC and psnrl discussion

                   with Liz Lerman and Don Kimes

 

1999           Modernism & Post-Modernism: Russian Art at the End of the Millennium

                   Fondo del Sol Museum of Art, Washington, DC

                   Marc Zuver, Museum Director

                   Vitaly Komar, artist (Komar & Melamud)

                   Don Kimes

 

1996           Painting Outside Painting: Is There a Cutting Edge?

                   In conjunction with the Corcoran Biennial.

                   Robert Storr, MOMA Curator Contemporary Painting and Drawing

                   Terrie Sultan, curator, Corcoran Biennial Exhibtion

                   Barbara Rose, author/critic

                   John Torreano, artist, painting chair NYU

                   Leslie Wayne, artist

                   Don Kimes

 

1994            De Kooning: Generational Perspectives

                    (in conjunction with National Gallery of Art de Kooning exhibition) 

                    Louis Finkelstein, artist/critic

                    Irving Sandler, art critic/author

                    Barbara Rose, art critic/author

                    Mark Stevens, art critic, Newsweek

                    Don Kimes

 

1990           The Sculpture of Beverly Pepper

                   Academy of Fine Arts, Perugia, Italy

                   Beverly Pepper, sculptor

                   Rossella Vasta, painter

                   Barbara Rose, art critic/author

                   Edgardo Abbozzo, Director, Accademia di Bellas Artes Pietro Vannucci, Italy

                   Don Kimes

 

1988           The University and the Arts

                   Connecticut State University

                   Robert Storr, contributing editor Art in America)

                   Evelyn Smith, Member Connecticut commission on the Arts

                   Martin Bresnick, composer, Yale University faculty

                   Don Kimes

 

 

SELECTED CURATORIAL PROJECTS

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2018 - 2020

Force of Nature: Gretna Campbell and Louis Finkelstein

Curated this traveling exhibition of works by Gretna Campbell and Louis Finkelstein,

including works from 1949 through 1988.

 

1999 - 2018           

43rd through the 59th Chautauqua Annual Exhibitions of Contemporary Art 

Worked on each of these exhibitions with individuals including:

                   

Jerry Saltz, Senior Art Critc, New York Magazine

Hrag Vartanian, Founder/Editor Hyperallergic.com

Robert Storr (Curator of Contemporary Art, Museum of Modern Art, NYC,

   commissioner for the 2007 Venice Biennale)

Steven Harvey, Founder/Director Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects NYC

Jennifer Samet, co-Director SHFAP, contributor/author Beer with a Painter, Hyperallergic.com

Denise Bibro (Director, Founder Denise Bibro Fine Art, NYC – Chelsea)

Stephen Westfall (Painter, critic Art In America)

Donald Kuspit (critic/author)

Janne Siren, Director, Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Kim Levin, (curator, author and critic, Village Voice, Art in America and others)

Jim Kempner, (Founder, Jim Kempner Fine Art, NYC)

Kim Foster, (Director, Founder, Kim Foster Gallery, NYC – Chelsea)

Rachel Vancelette (Director, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, NYY – Chelsea)

Louis Grachos (Director, Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo) 

Michael Gitlitz (Associate Director, Marlborough Gallery, NYC)

Barbara Rose (critic/art historian/author)

Julian Zugazagoitia (Director, Museo del Barrio, NYC)

Barbara Luderowski and Michael Olinyk (Director/Chief Curator, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh)

Sharon Louden (Artist/Editor, Living and Sustaining a Creative Life series of books) 

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2016

Homage to Mango Street

Curated this exhibition of works by contemporary Latino artists with roots in Mexico, Uruguay,

Chile, Ecuador and Cuba.  The exhibition includes a visit to Chautauqua by MacArthur Fellow

Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street

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2015            

Political Art From Warhol and Rauschenberg to the Present  

Curated this exhbition including works by William Dunlap, Helen Frederick, Carol Jacobsen,

Robert Longo, Phyllis Plattner, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and others.

Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua, NY

 

2014

The Paintings and Writings of Charles Burchfield

Worked with Anthony Bannon and Tullis Johnson to organize this exhibition at the Strohl Art

Center in Chautauqua, NY

 

2013            

Contemporary Abstraction in America 

Co-curated and catalogue essay, in association with the Albright-Knox Museum, Buffalo, NY

and Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua, NY

                   

Artists included:

                   Lynda Benglis                       Richmond Burton                    Tony Feher

                   Orly Genger                          Ani Hoover                              Warran Isensee

                   Heather McGill                      Jeff Morris                               Alberto Rey

                   Thomas Nozkowski               Mia Westerlund                      Sean Scully

                   Tam Van Tran

 

2012            

Abstraction in America:  The 1970’s and 1980’s, Co-curated and catalogue essay, in

association with Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY and Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua, NY

 

Artists included:

                   Mel Bochner                          Charles Clough                       Nancy Graves

                   Richard Diebenkorn               Keith Haring                            Bryan Hunt

                   Robert Mangold                     Beverley Pepper                     Peter Plagens 

                   David Reed                            Susan Rothenberg                  Richard Serra 

                   Donald Sultan                        Andrew Topolski                      Mia Westerlund

 

2011            

Abstraction in America:  The 1940’s to the 1960’s, Co-curated and catalogue essay, in association

with the Albright-Knox Museum, Buffalo, NY and Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua, NY

                   

Artists included:

                   Milton Avery                          Dorothy Dehner                     Franz Kline

                   Ary Stillman                           Louise Bourgeois                  Philip Guston

                   Beatrice Mandelman             Paul Jenkins                          Mark Tobey

                   Sam Francis                          Alfred Jenkins                       Jasper Johns

                   Hans Hofmann                      Cy Twombly                          Adolph Gottlieb

                   Lee Krasner

 

Bilateral Trace:  Works by Four Artists from Iran,

Strohl Art Center, The Chautauqua Institution

                       

2009            

Cuba Connections,

Belowe Gallery, Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua Institution

Works by five Cuban artists in association with the Racela Foundation in Kansas City,

Missouri. Prints produced by Taller Exp de Grafica, Havana

           

Tribal Art – Aboriginal Art from the Franks Tribe Collection

Gallo Family Gallery, Chautauqua, NY

Aboriginal sculpture from places ranging from Papua, New Guinea, Congo and Ivory

Coast to Easter Isle, Mexico and Peru; from Japan, Australia and Nepal to the Mound

Builders of Kentucky

 

Welded Steel by Lee Tribe, Melvin Johnson Sculpture Garden, Chautauqua Institution

Large scale sculptures by British sculptor Lee Tribe

 

Site specific installation by Roberley Bell

Melvin Johnson Sculpture Garden, Chautauqua Institution

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And many other exhibitions curated and/or organized 1980-2008 (partial listing):

 

Stanley Lewis Logan Galleries, Chautauqua Institution

           

The Nature of Space - Contemporary American Landscape

Chautauqua Center for the Visual Arts

 

Catherine Murphy and Vija Celmins  Watkins Gallery, Washington, DC

 

Andrew Forge, Drawings and Paintings, NY Studio School Galleries

​

William Tucker, Oversize Drawings, NY Studio School Galleries

 

Sculpture by George Spaventa, NY Studio School Galleries

 

Sculpture by Sidney Geist, NY Studio School Galleries

 

Gretna Campbell, Louis Finkelstein, Nel Blaine, NY Studio School Galleries

 

In Praise of Space, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC;

Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, and other locations

Co-curated exhibition with Robert Godfrey and wrote catalogue essay. 

Included works by 19th and 20th Century American painters Thomas Cole,

Jasper Francis Cropsey, John Frederick Kensett, William Sydney Mount, Edith

Neff, Gretna Campbell, Louis Finkelstein, Rackstraw Downes, Jane Wilson, Jane

Freilicher, Paul Georges, Neil Welliver and others.

                   

George McNeil:  The 1980’s

Watkins Gallery, Washington, DC

 

Form, Space, Structure:  Works by William Tucker, Garth Evans, John Walker                    

NY Studio School Galleries

 

The Landscape Revisited:  From Maine to Key West

Traveled nationally.  Works by Martha Alpert, Robert Henry, Stanley Lewis, David

Lund, Raoul Middleman, Paul Resika, Gina Werfel, Sally Amster, Stephen Brown, 

Gretna Campbell.

Gaumann Cicchino Gallery, Ft. Lauderdale

NY Studio School Galleries, NYC

Watkins Gallery, Washington, DC and others

 

 

 

HONORS/AWARDS

 

2023 Recognition from the Cultural Commissioner and the Commune di Corciano, Italy for Kimes' efforts in creating opportunities for artists in the Umbria region for more than 30 years. The award was presented at the opening of the exhibition Inner Sanctum Exposed at Pieve International.

 

2021 Mercedes Matter Award, New York Studio School Alumni Association

"The world has changed a great deal since 1964, but throughout it all the NYSS has remained a unique and important force for Art with a capital A, and for authenticity and integrity in the education of artists. It's an honor to have been selected for one of the awards named for the School’s founder Mercedes Matter, one of the original 9th Street Women".

 

2018

Inaugural Sonkin-Segal Endowed Chair in the Visual Arts, Chautauqua Institution  

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2016

American Academy in Rome Scholar in Residence for the "Art and Philosophy" seminar

​

2011-2013

Oishei Foundation

To work on collaborative exhibitions with Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo)

and the Chautauqua Institution

 

2010

Mellon Foundation Fund

To work in Perugia and Florence, Italy

 

2009

Studio Art Centers International Florence, Italy  Artist in Residence

 

2008

Missouri Council on the ArtsArtist Print Residency at SW Missouri State University

 

2001-05

Commune di Corciano, Corciano, Italy

Artist in residence space for 3 months annually

 

2003

Biennale Internazionale Dell’Arte Contemporanea Florence, Italy

Medici Medal (jurors: Dore Ashton, Barbara Rose, David Rubin, Veronika Birke,

John Spike, David Hockney)

 

2002

Kauai, Hawaii 3 month residency support to work in Kauai

 

2000

Goya Girl Press, Baltimore

MarylandArtists Print Session (materials, assistants, etc. for prints in 1999 and 2000)

 

1997-99

Academia di Belle Arti Pietro Vanucci Perugia, Italy.  Three one month studio residencies

 

1997

Assensore di Cultura Perugia, Italy

Artist Residency at the Manicomium

 

1996

Munich, Germany

Mellon Fund award for exhibition in Munich

 

1994-95 Camerata di Todi, Italy

Mellon Foundation Grant for year-long artist residency in Italy

 

1995

Perugia, Italy, Piazza Broletto

7’ x 7’ steel piece selected for acquisition by the region of Umbria for installation

inbuilding complex designed by Italian architect Aldo Rossi

 

1994

Washington College of Law, Washington, DC

Commission to produce 8’ x 12’ piece for new facilities

 

1993

Yellowstone National Park

Artist in Residence (supported by US Department of the Interior)

 

Villahermosa Conferencia de Literatura y Artes, Villahermosa, Mexico

Artist in Residence (supported by Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico,and the Mexican

Ministry of Culture to exhibit and work in southern Mexico)

 

1987-88

Connecticut State UniversityArtist in Residence

(9 month residence, studio and stipend)

 

1986

Soviet Union – Moscow, Riga, Leningrad (now St. Petersburg)

Cultural/Political Exchange sponsored by Eisenhower Foundation, Chautauqua Institution,

United States Information Agency

 

1985

Edna St. Vincent Millay Colony, Austerlitz, NY

Artist Residency