Smoke Tree Painting

Donna Backues has a BA in Studio Art & Graphic Design from Southern Illinois University, an MFA from The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and an MA in Urban Studies and Community Arts from Eastern University. Donna lived in Indonesia for 18 years working as an artist, a teaching artist, and as a grassroots community development practitioner using her art in various capacities. Her work included founding a community preventative health training program and partnering with local artisans to design indigenous products for export to support small home industries. Since moving to Philadelphia, Donna has worked as a painter, illustrator, and community artist and teaching artist. Currently she is the Community & Family Wellness Coordinator for a non-profit working with the Asian immigrant and refugee population in Philadelphia. Donna taught for The Mural Arts Program and The Village of Arts and Humanities. She has been awarded artist residencies through the Philadelphia Art Museum’s Delphi Art Futures & Art Partners program, Rutgers Camden Center for the Arts, Fleisher Art Memorial and Spiral Q. In 2013 Donna won first prize in the American Batik Design Competition and in 2014 she was awarded the Art & Change Grant by the Leeway foundation and the NewCourtland Fellowship in 2017. Four of her paintings are in the Philadelphia Convention Center’s permanent collection. Her murals can be seen in Philadelphia, Camden NJ and in Leeds, UK.