Michele Oka Doner

B. 1945, Miami Beach, Florida

BiographyMichele Oka Doner is an internationally renowned artist whose career spans six decades. Her work is fueled by a lifelong study and appreciation of the natural world, from which she derives her formal vocabulary. The breadth of her artistic production encompasses sculpture, drawing, public art, functional objects, video, artist books, and costume and set design.
Oka Doner’s work is found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Institute of Arts, Musée des Arts Décoratifs (The Louvre), Victoria & Albert, London, as well as the Michigan, Yale, and Harvard university art museums, among others. Her work has been the subject of solo and group exhibitions at museums and art galleries since 1967, with upcoming exhibitions at the new Malta International Contemporary Art Space (MICAS) in Valletta and The Ringling Museum, Sarasota.

Oka Doner is well known for creating numerous permanent art installations throughout the United States, including Flight at Reagan International Airport, Arlington, VA, Radiant Site at the Herald Square MTA station, New York and the mile and quarter long bronze and terrazzo concourse, A Walk on the Beach at Miami International Airport, seen by 40 million travelers annually. She has received numerous awards, including United Nations Society of Writers and Artists Award of Excellence, Pratt Institute’s Legends, as well as grants from New York State Council of the Arts and Knight Foundation. In 2016 she received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from The University of Michigan, where she earned her undergraduate and MFA degrees. Her frequent lectures include those at University of Michigan, Yale, Harvard, and Oxford.

Oka Doner is the author or subject of numerous books, including Everything Is Alive (2017) Regan Arts and Intuitive Alphabet (2017), TRA. A children’s book, A Seed Takes Root, will be released in 2023. She was first Artist in Residence at the New York Botanical Garden and was recently named Guardian of the Great Miami Beach Banyan Tree and Ambassador for Arts and Culture for the City of Miami Beach, as well. Born and raised in Miami Beach, she maintains a studio and residence in New York City.

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