Gerald Donato was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1941, and earned his BSEd at Northern Illinois University, his MA at Northern Illinois University, and his MFA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at Reynolds Gallery in Richmond, Virginia; Hunt Gallery at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia; at 1708 Gallery in Richmond; at the University of Texas Gallery in San Antonio; at the Anderson Gallery at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond; at the Kathryn Sermas Gallery in New York; and at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. His work has also been included in group shows in, among other venues, Richmond; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; New York; Los Angeles; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Brussels; Lima; Moscow; and Kishinev, Moldova.

Donato’s work has received two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, one in Painting and one in Prints, Books and/or Drawings. He has also received a Professional Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Work in public and corporate collections is held by the Anderson Gallery; the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia; The Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond; Loyola University in Chicago; Mary Baldwin College; Ohio State University in Columbus; the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem; the University of Utah in Salt Lake City; the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Donato is a Professor Emeritus of Painting at Virginia Commonwealth Unviersity.