Tom
Donahue
After attending the University of Memphis, Tom Donahue began his career producing decorative murals. He eventually
became the art director of his employer's company. This commercial start enabled him to finance his transition
to portraiture to which he has fully devoted himself since the 1970's. Donahue has taught at the Memphis College
of Art and is currently the Secretary/Treasurer of the Portrait Society of America.
Tom Donahue, an artist for over thirty years, is equally comfortable working with a busy executive in the
boardroom composing preliminary sketches or with a child in the backyard giving him or her time to open up.
His work is in public and private collections from coast to coast. In 1987, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
commissioned Tom to paint its founder, the entertainer Danny Thomas. He recently painted official portraits
of the Nobel Laureate Dr. Peter Doherty, and the former North Carolina Chief Justice Jim Exum. In 2003 he
was awarded Germantown Arts Alliance medal for visual arts.

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