In the 12 years since she graduated, Marilyn Donahue-Schiller has gone from research scientist to social entrepreneur, design studio executive, nonprofit manager, and education consultant. But the identity that runs through it all is “artist.” When she’s not making art with her hands, Donahue-Schiller, who earned her MFA in 1999, lives life as a creative experiment.

Take the latest enterprise she’s founded, the Sustainable Education Project, which since 2005 has been helping London-based organizations go green. She has worked with teachers and students to develop eco-clubs and written sustainability action plans for schools. She reflects, “There’s something artistic about the work. It’s a very organic process to problem-solve with communities.”

CCA instructors David Ireland, Mark Thompson, and Raymond Saunders inspired her innovative approach to the world. “David conveyed that the life process is part of the art process,” she says. “Mark taught me about ‘seed planting’—the fact that it may take time before you see the fruits of your efforts. Ray was my advisor, and very supportive of my art career.”

Donahue-Schiller started off with a degree in pharmacology, and for 10 years worked as a researcher in pharmacologic ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco. Combining business skills gleaned from managing a lab with her love of art, she cofounded Mudhaus Design Studio, which became a highly successful graphic design house serving brand-name clients.

While running Mudhaus, she pursued her MFA and did a couple of installations. But Prague, Brussels, and then London beckoned when her British husband’s journalism career took off. Donahue-Schiller got creative again, becoming a self-styled leader of local community projects. “Our apartment is too small for me to have a studio because I’m a messy artist,” she says, “but I look forward to having one again.” In the meantime, life continues to be a rewarding canvas.

Born in 1973 in Los Angeles

CCA degree:
MFA Painting/Drawing 1999

Other education:
BA in pharmacology from UC Santa Barbara and graduate work at the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois, and UCSF

Residence:
Lives and works in London

Current occupation:
educator and community artist

Influences at CCA:
David Ireland, Raymond Saunders, Mark Thompson

Website:
www.marilyndonahue.com