Don Kurka is an active painter and photographer. His professional career spans over fifty years. He is Professor Emeritus and retired Head of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville School of Art where he served from 1977 through 1992. Prior to that, he was Director of Fine Arts at Long Island University, Southampton Center, (NY).
He has exhibited in the U.S. and foreign countries in solo and group shows, in museums and galleries and has been a visiting artist in several national and international art schools. He holds a Ph.D., (NYU), an MFA, (The School of the Art Institute of Chicago) and BFA, (Syracuse University).
He currently maintains studios in Knoxville, TN, and in Bogota-Colombia, South America.
Visiting Artist/Critic
Clemson University; University of Texas, San Antonio; Fine Arts Academy, Bratislava, Slovakia; Fine Arts Academy, Helsinki, Finland; University of Georgia, Crotona, Italy; Vermont Studio Center; Montana Artists Refuge; Arrowmont School; Ringling School of Art and Design, Universidad de los Andes, the National University in Bogota, Colombia.
Selected Exhibits
Solo: Fine Arts Academy, Bratislava, Slovakia; Museum of Art, Greenville, SC; Ewing Gallery, UTK, Knoxville, TN; Hunter Museum, Chattanooga, TN; Slocumb Gallery, ETSU, Johnson City, TN;Savannah College of Art and Design, GA.
Group: Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki; Cheekwood Fine Arts Museum, Nashville, TN; Centro de BellasArtes, Caracas-Venezuela; Palazzo Caselli,Cortona, Italy;; Evansville Museum of Art, IN; Hunter Museum, Chattanooga, TN; Oak Ridge Art Center, TN; Mississippi Museum of Art;Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL.
Collections and Commissions
Corporate: IBM, Hospital Corporation of America, Anheuser-Busch, Hilton Hotel Corp., TVA, Bellsouth, Stouffers Corp, Hyatt Corporation.
Private: Collections in NY, NJ, CT, FL, GA, AL, TX, IL, NV, TN and Washington, D.C.