Donnamaria Bruton (May 3, 1954 - September 9, 2012) was a painter and faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design, known for her mixed media paintings and collages. Bruton worked at RISD starting in 1992, serving as Painting Department head from 2001 to 2003, and as interim dean of Graduate Studies from 2003 to 2005. Bruton's style, described by '' The Providence Journal'' as "a loose free-flowing style.... but with a strong realistic streak," makes use of her drawing, painting and

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

skills. Many of her collages employ mundane objects as the key to getting at a deeper memory or concept. Her first solo exhibit was in 1993 in Austin, Texas, and was well received. Later in her career, the size of her works expanded, many to canvases . Bruton received the Blanche E. Colman Award from

BNY Mellon The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American investment banking services holding company headquartered in New York City. BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Finan ...

in 1999. Her work is part of the permanent collection at the RISD Museum and the Gwanjiu Museum in Korea, as well as several private collections. Bruton's work is in the permanent collection of the Newport Art Museum.

Early life and education

Bruton was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1954. Her father was baseball player Bill Bruton, and her grandfather on her mother's side was Negro leagues player Judy Johnson. She received a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, and a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

from Yale University. She studied under painter Edward Loper and exhibited with Dell Pryor in Detroit. She married Timothy Coutis in January 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruton, Donna 1954 births 2012 deaths Artists from Milwaukee Yale School of Art alumni Michigan State University alumni Rhode Island School of Design faculty American contemporary painters African-American contemporary artists African-American women artists African-American painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American women painters American women academics 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American artists 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women