Donald K. Lake Resume

Education

BFA 1968 Wichita State University
MFA 1970 Wichita State University

Teaching Experience

  • Parkland College, Champaign, IL
    – Professor Emeritus, 2004–2008
    – Professor of Art, 1970–2004
    – Program Director, Art and Design, 1979–2004
  • On-Site Watercolor Painting travel group to Isle of Wight, England 2006
  • Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL
    – Adjunct Faculty, The Graduate School, 2017–2020
  • Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
    – Watercolor Instructor, Summer, alternate years 1989–2009
  • Southern Illinois Art Workshop, Smithboro, IL
    – Watercolor Instructor, Spring 1997,2001, 2005
  • Springmaid Beach Watercolor Workshop, Myrtle Beach, SC
    – Watercolor Instructor, Fall 1997, 1998
  • Toledo Artists Club, Toledo Botanical Gardens, OH
    – Watercolor Instructor, Fall 1999

Selected Publications and Honors

  • Watercolor Honor Society Lifetime Achievement Award, 2018
  • Lifetime ACE Award, 2017, 40North/Champaign County Arts Council, Champaign/Urbana, IL
  • Airstream Life, Winter 2023: cover illustration
  • Airstream Life, Summer 2021: group article
  • Watercolor Artist Magazine, February 2020: “A Sense of the Truth”
  • Airstream Life, Winter 2019: cover illustration
  • Watercolor Artist Magazine, October 2018: “Lifetime Achievement in Watercolor, Dean Mitchell and Don Lake”
  • Airstream Life, Fall 2014: cover illustration
  • Industrial Cities Initiative, Susan Longworth, editor; Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 2014: cover and six interior illustrations
  • Watercolor Artist Magazine, February 2014: “The Best Watermedia Paintings of 2013,” by Jessica Canterbury
  • Airstream Life, Summer 2013: cover illustration
  • United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program
    – United States Embassy in Kampala, Uganda 1992–1995
    – United States Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan 2008–2011
    – United States Embassy in Niamey, Niger 2018–2021
  • Watercolor USA Honor Society Millennium Book Project, 2000, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
  • New American Paintings, August 1998: “Donald Lake”
  • Art and Antiques, January 1998: “Openings: Outsiders Obsessions”
  • Louis Post-Dispatch, February 22, 1998: “A Fantastic Play of Light Informs the Watercolors of Donald Lake”
  • American Artist Watercolor 94 Fall Issue: “Mystery and Symbolism in Urban Scenes”
  • The Artist’s Magazine, September 1992: “Award Winning Watercolors. Watercolor USA: Donald K. Lake,” by Bebe Raupe
  • Watercolor Expressions, Rockport Publishers, 1999
  • The New Spirit of Watercolor, by Mike Ward. North Light Books, 1989
  • Commissioned Paintings for Illinois Capital Development Board Art-In-Architecture Program, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001
  • Commissioned Paintings for Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 2002–2003
  • Member, Watercolor USA Honor Society
    • Board Member 1997–2000
    • Served as Treasurer 1989–92
    • Chaired panel entitled “Issues and Attitudes in Contemporary Watercolor” at WHS National Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT, 1993
    • Chaired panel entitled “Views on Constructive Criticism” at WHS National Conference, Springfield, MO, 1997
  • NISOD Award for Teaching Excellence, 1997 (National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, University of Texas, Austin)
  • Illinois Arts Council Artists Fellowship Finalist Award for 2001
  • Judge for numerous state, regional, and national juried exhibits

Selected Exhibitions (Solo)

  • 2024 Farms, Factories, and Favorite Places: Don Lake Watercolors 2017–2024, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL
  • 2020 Midwest/Southwest: Industrial and Landscape Watercolors by Don Lake, Cinema Gallery, Urbana, IL
  • 2019 Don Lake: Watercolor Retrospective, Giertz Gallery, Parkland College, Champaign, IL
  • 2016 Cross Section: Don Lake Drawings and Watercolors, Cinema Gallery, Urbana, IL
  • 2014 On Second Thought: Vintage Watercolors, Drawings and Prints by Don Lake, Cinema Gallery, Urbana, IL
  • 2013 Don Lake Watercolors: Travels and Trailers. McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL
  • 2011 Strands: Don Lake Watercolors. Cinema Gallery, Urbana, IL
  • 2009 Far-Flung Places: Don Lake Watercolors. Cinema Gallery, Urbana, IL
  • 2007 Don Lake: Recent Watercolors. Cinema Gallery, Urbana, IL
  • 2004 Donald Lake, Miriam Lake. Watercolors and Painted Objects. Bicentennial Art Center and Museum, Paris, IL
  • 2002 Donald Lake: Recent Works. Richland College, Decatur, IL
  • 2000 Donald Lake: Recent Watercolors. Rend Lake College, Ina, IL
  • 1998 Donald Lake: Watercolors. Elliot Smith Contemporary Art, St. Louis, MO
  • 1992 Don Lake: Recent Watercolors. Neville-Sargent Gallery, Chicago, IL
  • 1989 Don Lake: Watercolors and Drawings. Parkland College Art Gallery, Champaign, IL

Selected Exhibitions (Group and Invitational)

2024

  • Watercolor NOW 2024, Downing Museum and Baker Arboretum, Bowling Green, KY
  • Route 66, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL

2022

  • Watercolor USA, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
  • Watercolor NOW 2020, Birger Sandzen Memorial Museum, Lindsborg, KS

2019

  • Watercolor NOW 2019, Margaret Harwell Art Museum, Poplar Bluffs, MO

2018

  • Watercolor NOW 2018, Margaret Harwell Art Museum, Poplar Bluffs, MO
  • Ten Ways With Watercolor, Cinema Gallery, Urbana, IL
  • Watercolor USA 2018, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
    (24 Watercolor USA exhibits, 12 awards 1977–2018)

2017

  • Airstream Fine Art Invitational, Airstream, Jackson Center, OH

2016

  • Airstream Fine Art Invitational, Airstream, Jackson Center, OH

2015

  • Watercolor NOW 2015, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO

2014

  • 20th Biennial Watercolor/Drawing Illinois, Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, Ronchetti Art Acquisition Endowment Purchase Award
  • Watercolor NOW 2014, Culver-Stockton College, Canton, MO
  • Ecovisions, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL

2013

  • Watercolor USA 2013, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
  • 19th Biennial Watercolor/Drawing Illinois, Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL

2012

  • Watercolor USA 2012, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
  • Watercolor NOW 2012, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO

2011

  • Watercolor USA 2011, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
  • Watercolor USA Honor Society Small Works Exhibition, Brick City Gallery, Springfield, MO
  • Watercolor NOW 2011, Slater Memorial Park Gallery, Pawtucket, RI
  • 18th Biennial Watercolor/Drawing Illinois, Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL

2010

  • Watercolor USA 2010, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
  • Potomac Valley Watercolorists Award

2009

  • Art of Emprise, Couts Art Museum, El Dorado, KS

2008

  • Watercolor USA, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
  • Watercolor NOW 2008, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
  • Art of Emprise, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS
  • Old Dogs Redux, Cinema Gallery, Urbana, IL

2007

  • Watercolor/Drawing Illinois 16th Biennial, Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, Barbara Bishop Werden Best Traditional Watercolor Award
  • Biennial Watercolor Invitational, Parkland College Art Gallery, Champaign, IL
  • Midwest Art Exhibition, Birger Sandzen Gallery, Bethany College, Lindsborg, KS

2006

  • Watercolor NOW 2006, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO
  • Watercolor Invitational, Park Central Gallery, Springfield, MO

2005

  • 10 Illinois Artists: A Watercolor Invitational, University Art Museum, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
  • Watercolor Illinois, Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, Barbara Bishop Werden Best Traditional Watercolor Award

2003

  • State of the Art 2003, Siena Heights University, MI, and Parkland College Art Gallery, Champaign, IL
  • Watercolor NOW 2003, Springfield Art Museum, MO
  • Here and Now, Art From Greater Champaign-Urbana, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2001

  • Watercolor USA 2001. Springfield Art Museum, MO, Purchase for Museum Collection in honor of Payne Stewart
  • Watercolor Illinois. Tarble Arts Center, EIU, Charleston IL, Best of Show purchase for Tarble Arts Center Collection

2000

  • Watermedia 2000. Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL

1997

  • Twenty-First Annual National Invitational Drawing Exhibition, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS
  • Gallery Artists, Elliot Smith Contemporary Art, St. Louis, MO
  • Watercolor NOW, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO

1996

  • Midwestern Romanticism. Springfield Art Association, IL, and traveling to:
    • Freeport Art Museum, IL
    • Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria, IL
    • Sioux City Art Center, IA
    • Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
    • Gahlberg Gallery, Arts Center, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL (1997)

1995

  • Art Chicago at Navy Pier, represented by Struve Gallery
  • Watercolor NOW, Knoxville Museum of Art (previous Watercolor NOW exhibits 1987–1993)

1994

  • Art and the Law. West Publishing Corporation, Purchase, traveling to five venues in United States, 1994–95
  • Rural Realism. Neville-Sargent Gallery, Chicago, IL

1993

  • Gallery Artists: New Works. Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL
  • National Invitational: Watercolor Artists in Academia. Texas Women’s University, Denton, TX

1992

  • A View From Here: Heartland Landscape Painters. McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL
  • New Horizons in Art, Chicago, IL (also 1990, award both years)
  • Midwest Landscape Painters. Rahr-West Museum, Manitowoc, WI
  • Illinois Prairie Views. Artworks Gallery, Peoria, IL

1991

  • State of the Art, National Watercolor Invitational. Parkland College Art Gallery, Champaign, IL (Also 1989)
  • Illinois Landscapes: Large and Small. Neville-Sargent Gallery, Chicago, IL

1990

  • Landscapes: Rural and Urban. Neville-Sargent Gallery, Chicago, IL

1989

  • Watercolor Illinois, Seventh Biennial (Also 1983, 1981, 1979)

1988

  • Aqueous 88. The Kentucky Museum, Bowling Green, KY (also Aqueous 86)

1987

  • American Watercolor. Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan (Republic of China)
  • American Watercolor. Chateau de Tours, Tours, France
  • Realism Today. Evansville Museum of Arts and Sciences, Evansville, IN

1986

  • Mid America Biennial. Owensboro Museum of Fine Arts, Owensboro, KY
  • 45th National Competition. Watercolor Society of Alabama, Birmingham, AL
  • Watercolor National Invitational. North Texas State University, Denton, TX

1985–1975

  • Numerous regional and national shows

A select list of public and private collections is available here.