Dorothy Dunn is a creative leader and catalyst, cultural producer and educator. Working with the Smithsonian Institution, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Buckminster Fuller Institute, The Rubin Museum of Art, the Philip Johnson Glass House, and AIGA, among others, Dunn is recognized for launching organizations, experiences, cross-disciplinary programs, partnerships and products that promote positive engagement and stimulate creative leadership and action.

Dunn was the founding Director of America: Now and Here, a pioneering venture to position art (including visual art, poetry, film, music and theater) as a catalyst for civil dialogue in communities across the country. Working closely with artist Eric Fischl, Dunn led a national team to build a new non-profit organization and to produce the project, including strategic and fundraising plans, producing all creative content (including publications, films, installations, music), interpretation and visitor engagement strategies, programs, products, and community and academic partnerships. Through the project launch in Kansas City, Missouri (2011), ANH partnered with more than one hundred Kansas City artists and more than fifty cultural and community organizations including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City Art Institute, the American Jazz Museum and Mid-America Arts Alliance, to realize a multi-disciplinary creative experience. This month-long ANH pilot engaged more than 15,000 people and was featured in news and media including NPR, CBS, The New York Times, and The Kansas City Star.

Previously, Dunn was Director of Visitor Experience and Fellowships for the public opening of The Philip Johnson Glass House, a property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. There, she produced Glass House Conversations, a two-year series of salons exploring themes relevant to culture, preservation, science, education and leadership which were documented and expanded through an interactive web site. She also produced Design Literacy Retreat, and Openings (a series of short films), the Glass House Oral History Project, and all visitor engagement and interpretation strategies.

Dunn was Director of Education at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, where her innovations earned her the inaugural Smithsonian Education Achievement Award in 2004 in recognition of her leadership in building the National Design Museum’s educational vision. In that role she conceived and launched groundbreaking national program models, including Summer Design Institute, City of Neighborhoods and High School Design Career Days as well as numerous conferences and study tours.

As Director of Programs at AIGA, the professional association for design, Dunn repositioned the International Design Conference at Aspen, the world’s oldest forum for business and design leaders. She also produced the 20th AIGA National Conference in Boston as well as Gain, a national business and design conference. With support from Target, she featured contemporary graphic designers in a series of design education inserts for Scholastic’s Instructor magazine.

Dunn was Director of Education, University Museums, Iowa State University, and Director of Education, The Bennington Museum in Vermont.

She studied at Interlochen Arts Academy, Reed College, Hampshire College (BA), and Bank Street College (MA). She is on the board of Open House New York (OHNY) and serves as an advisor for the Center for Art + Landscape at the Nevada Museum of Art, The Aldrich Museum of Art, and Tenlegs. She helps manage her family farm in Illinois where, among other projects, she grows black walnut trees.