It’s with a sense of great loss that the RISD community begins the fall semester with the news that Professor of Painting Donna Maria Bruton passed away last Sunday, September 9, after a two-year battle against cancer. Donna was born and raised in Milwaukee and Detroit. After earning a BFA from Michigan State and an MFA from Yale, she started teaching at RISD in 1992 and served as Painting department head from 2001-03 and as interim dean of Graduate Studies from 2003-05. Her beautifully textured and evocative paintings offer insight into the remarkable artist who made them.
“When I’m open and receptive it flows easily,” Donna said of her process. “When I think too much, the work shuts down. It’s like there’s a higher intelligence that you tap into.”
