Career Narrative

I have built a formal art career of teaching and learning experiences that are apparent in the following list of chronological professional career accomplishments.

2013    John Simon Guggenheim Foundation application, accepted and work reviewed, status upgraded to Advanced Professional

2010-2012    Installation Designer/Donor for “Dining by Design” to raise funds for HIV/AIDS work at San Francisco General Hospital, California

2010    Executive music producer and CD design/layout for the “Thank you Father”, R&B gospel music CD, for gospel music writer and singer Everett Jones

2010     Black entertainment TV production. The celebration of life, “The Man, The Music, The Ministry” gospel music celebrity Walter L. Hawkins, Paramount Theatre, Oakland, CA. live to tape with special inserts of art work created especially for the Bobby Jones “Lift Every Voice” television tribute production. Word global TV network. The celebration of life for gospel music giant, Bishop Walter L. Hawkins with special inserts of my art work.

2009    Completed a series of 3’x4’ canvas, acrylic and mixed media – (10) paintings titled “Jewels of Gospel Music” and song created to visually document the forty-year celebration of “Oh Happy Day” for celebrity gospel singer and writer, Edwin Hawkins – a.k.a. the father of contemporary gospel music.

2008    Completed a series of 20x30 paper, acrylic and mixed media paintings titled “Jewels of Jazz on my Mind”. Various jazz musicians are depicted in a mardi gras mask style – (13) paintings.

2008    Appointed Alameda County Arts Commissioner under County Supervisor Keith Carson, 5th District,

Oakland, CA.

1987-2003    Collaborated with Hollywood giants such as George Lucas Industrial Light Magic (ILM-Special Effects and model building divisions) for their classroom visits and workshops for the past nineteen years in Oakland and in San Francisco.

1983-2003    Start Art Television Series

I created and began producing and hosting the “Start Art Series” in 1983 for cable channel 13, KDOL Oakland Unified School District, as a project for students to learn the skills of television production; for teachers to learn to combine art with their subject matter; for emerging artists in the community; and for the community at large as cultural awareness of community diversity. I appeared as Dr. Don, the Wizard of Art. The tapes were rebroadcast by Peralta Community College Cable, Channel 47; United Artists Cable TV 3, now TC1 Alameda Cable TV 3; Sacramento Community Cable Foundation TV 18; and Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium, TV 30. The total audience was estimated to be more than 400,000 viewers. The series was also viewed in Russia, China and Japan. Many of my productions featured local and national celebrities who, as volunteers, brought knowledge of their craft to students and the community. Each of the interviewees was the focus of a Start Art production. They were important to the art being featured, with their careers serving as motivation to the student participants.

Hosted and interviewed:

• Danny Glover, screen actor
  
• Belva Davis, television anchor person and host, KRON TV 4
  
• Dennis Richmond, television anchor person, news, KTVU TV 2
  
• Barbara Rodgers, television anchor person, host and news, KPIX TV 5
  
• Loren Peterson, Lucas Film, Ltd. model building supervisor for Industrial Light and Magic, i.e. Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones
  
• Morrie Turner, syndicated cartoonist
  
• Paris, RAP star for Tommy Boy Records
  
• Japanese Consulate representative, Japan Foundation
  
• President Wong, Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Oakland.
  

The Start Art programs and classroom visits generated a large amount of publicity for me as producer that resulted in many newspaper articles and television interviews.

Television Interviews as interviewee:

• Gerri Lange, KBHK, TV 44, San Francisco today
  
• Carolyn Tyler, KGO, TV 7, ABC news anchor
  
• Linda Schmid's Art Studios, Too, KQED, Channel 9
  
• 1989 Soviet Union "600 Seconds", (equivalent of CBS 60 Minutes), a 10 minute segment.
  

1999    Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Business (OBA) special jurors award for outstanding community leadership in art education

1992    US department of Education Fulbright/Hays Scholar, Peoples Republic of China

1990    Prestigious Japan Foundation Scholar award, Japan

1989    First American artist to exhibit at the Leningrad Library, (USSR) and exhibited at the Troitsk Exhibition Building, Troitsk, (USSR) and awarded a Congressional Award from the US Congress for my art education activities as an ambassador in Russia (USSR)

1989    Individually raised $156,000 in art scholarships to the Academy of Art in San Francisco for my high school beginning to advanced art classes for graduating and summer art course students over a three year duration, within the Oakland Unified School District.

1984/1985    Recipient of two Marcus A. Foster Educational Institute Grant awards for new notions “Start Art” TV series.

1983    California State Department of Education master teacher/mentor leadership award

1983    The Donald O. Greene School of Arts and Crafts, Inc., Berkeley, CA – (not active)

1978    Charles Harrison Mason Scholarship Foundation (COGIC) award for dedication to community leadership

1975    Design/Illustration for children’s book written by author and poet laureate Maya Angelo

1971    Distinguished Service Award finalist “Man of the Year”, Berkeley Jay-Cees

1969    Designed a record cover (LP) “Hebrew boys” for Edwin Hawkins – a.k.a. the father of contemporary gospel music. Buddha records, New York, NY

Publications

2011     California Home & Design Magazine, Jan/Feb

2007     Jerry Thompson and Duane Deterville – Black Artist in Oakland

2000     The International Design Magazine – Advertisements, May-Hostpro Net

1999     Falk, Peter Hastings – Who Was Who in American Art (400 years of Artist in America)

1975    Frye, Daniel J. – African American Visual Artist and Annotated Bibliographical of Educational Resource Materials

1973     Cederholm, Theresa Dickenson – Afro-American Artist - A Bio-Bibliographical-Directory

1971     Walker, Roslyn – A Resource Guide to visual arts of Afro-Americans - South Bend, IN

1969     Lewis/Waddy – Black Artist on Art, Vol. 1