Paula Crown

Paula Crown is a multimedia artist whose practice encompasses drawing, painting, video, and sculpture, integrating technology, social activism, and sustainability. Before focusing on contemporary art, Crown held leadership roles in finance, including serving as vice president at Salomon Brothers and as a principal at Henry Crown and Company, a Chicago-based investment firm. She later earned an M.F.A. in painting and drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, establishing herself at the intersection of visual art and civic responsibility.

Crown's work investigates virtual and physical landscapes, utilizing both digital and analog processes to explore themes such as place, identity, and environmental impact. Notable projects include "INSIDE MY HEAD: A Contemporary Self Portrait," a topographic map created using MRI scans, and "TRANSPOSITION: Over Many Miles," a site-specific immersive installation in the Miami Design District. Her large-scale public sculpture "JOKESTER," a monumental interpretation of the solo cup, has been installed at locations including Aspen Mountain, the Miami Design District, and the Sculpture Milwaukee Biennale, addressing issues of consumption, waste, and reuse. The "SOLO TOGETHER" series, exhibited at Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and The Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, highlights environmental activism and collective responsibility.

Crown's exhibition history is international, with solo shows at venues such as Aspen Institute, Dallas Contemporary, Marlborough Gallery in New York, 10 Hanover in London, Studio Cannaregio in Venice during the Venice Architecture Biennale, Fort Gansevoort in New York, and Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her work has appeared in group exhibitions at Jack Shainman Gallery, International Center of Photography, and Kunsthal KAdE in the Netherlands, and is included in public and private collections such as the Agnes Gund Collection and the Tishman Speyer Collection. Crown's "PERforations" series, presented at Spring/Break Art Show in New York, features handmade modular sculptural forms that continue her exploration of mark-making and collective experience.

In addition to her studio practice, Crown is active in arts leadership and philanthropy. She was appointed to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, where she served alongside figures such as Yo-Yo Ma, Alfre Woodard, and Kerry James Marshall. Crown is a member of the board of trustees of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where she chairs the Education Committee, and participates in the Aspen Institute Committee of the Arts. She has collaborated with the Art For Justice Fund to address mass incarceration through art. Crown identifies as both an artist and activist, drawing on her background in entrepreneurship and her commitment to the role of art in fostering social change.