Contemporary Gallery

August 1, 2026 - January 6, 2027
Curated by Michele Ellis Pracy, FAM Executive Director and Chief Curator

Dancer/Choreographer Donna Sternberg is the Council of 100 Distinguished Woman Artist for 2026. Donna is the 37th recipient of this award given to established women artists over the age of 60 who live at least 100 miles outside of Fresno. Her exhibition traces her career from the 1970s through 2025 with 35 photographs and looped videos of performances. Donna‘s work is interdisciplinary and performance-based, frequently collaborating with artists from other disciplines. She works with scientists, composers, visual artists, poets, theater, and digital media. She has premiered over 90 works since 1975 in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Europe. In 1985, she founded Donna Sternberg and Dancers, a contemporary dance company based in Santa Monica, California. As a choreographer, she creates a language of movement: “Through movement, I can speak directly to the core of another, my connective tissue and cellular matter transmit a language of energy that weaves a web between us.”

Enrichment programming related to her exhibition will include an offsite performance, master classes conducted with local college dance departments, and a film premiere and panel discussion in FAM’s Bonner Auditorium.

Pictured above: Dancers from Donna Sternberg Dancers as choreographed by Donna Sternberg

Donna Sternberg