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Donna Loraine Contractor was born in Waukegan, IL and came to New Mexico to attend St. John’s College in Santa Fe. Since she moved to Albuquerque 23 years ago, she has won over 30 art competitions and commissions throughout the state and country. Contractor’s work incorporates the landscapes and colors of New Mexico with bold contemporary architectural frames that create depth and optical illusions. The late Douglas Kent Hall, in The Thread of New Mexico, said, “Contractor combines unlikely dynamic forms with a scintillating palette to achieve an evocative and compelling style of weaving. She utilized traditional....concepts as well as certain graphic constructs that fueled the work of many twentieth-century painters and brings to contemporary tapestry a freshness that is sometimes startling.”

Contractor was recently named a Local Treasure for her contribution to the Duke City’s visual art scene by the Albuquerque Art Business Association. Her Tapestry “Winter Storm- In Depth” was awarded first place at the 2009 Albuquerque Fiber Art Fiesta. In 2002 she created the Bravos Award for the Arts Alliance – a series of small weavings. Contractor’s work can be seen at four New Mexico galleries: Mariposa Gallery and the Albuquerque Museum Gallery Store in Albuquerque, the Tapestry Gallery in Madrid and the Weaving Southwest Gallery in Taos. She operates an apprenticeship program at her Nob Hill studio. She has won numerous art competitions and commissions such as a triptych for the City/County Building in Albuquerque and a large tapestry for the Bernalillo County Courthouse. She will be installing her “INVOLUTE CURVE” from the Universal Language Series in December 2009 in the Village of Magdalena’s Municipal Building, through a competition win with the State of New Mexico’s Public Art Program. Other accolades include the display of her tapestries at the Albuquerque Museum, MFA @ Santa Fe and an appearance on a HGTV special. Donna's work is shown and collected throughout the United States and abroad. Contractor had her first solo show “ UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE ” at the Weaving Southwest Gallery in Taos N.M., highlighting the design principles of mathematics, in August 2006.

Read more about Contractor in the Alibi and Albuquerque Journal or take a look at her blog.