Donita Ellison is a printmaker and sculptor who taught fine art at LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and the Performing Arts, and is an Associate at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, both in New York City. In her hometown of Springfield, Missouri she majored in art at Missouri State University. She moved to New York in 1980 to study at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation and is now attending professional classes taught by the Chair of Education Ellen Reiss. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts, NYC, where she studied printmaking with Chaim Koppelman and sculpture with Joel Shapiro; and graduated with honors from Iona College with a MS in Art Education.

Ms. Ellison has presented talks on the work of many sculptors, including Nevelson, Rodin, Brancusi, Hepworth, and has presented seminars on the questions of women and how Aesthetic Realism explains that the answer is in the meaning and technique of art. She has been a guest lecturer at Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Spiva Center for the Arts in Joplin, Missouri, El Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, and participated in 31st Congress of the International Society for Education through Art. 

Ms. Ellison uses the Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method in the art classes she teaches to high school students and gives professional development workshops for art educators. She writes:

Welcome! On this website you will see what Aesthetic Realism explains about life, art, teaching, love, the family, and so much more! Founded in 1941 by Eli Siegel, America’s eminent poet, critic and educator, this education comprehends and relates the world, the meaning of art, and our most intimate selves. Learning that the world has a structure which makes sense—is both logical and beautiful—has enriched my life and art enormously! That logic is in this principle:

“The world, art, and self explain each other: each is the aesthetic oneness of opposites.”