Danielle O'Steen

Dr. Danielle O’Steen is an art historian and curator focusing on 20th-century and contemporary art, with interests in American sculpture, printmaking, and the history of materials and studio practice. She received a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Maryland, an M.A. in art history from George Washington University, and a B.A. in art history and philosophy from Colby College.

She has held fellowship positions at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and was previously the inaugural curator at The Kreeger Museum in Washington, DC. At the Kreeger, she organized several exhibitions including “Lou Stovall: On Inventions and Color” (2022), a survey of works by master printmaker Lou Stovall that explored his prints and collaborations with artists such as David Driskell, Sam Gilliam, Gwendolyn Knight, and Jacob Lawrence. She has contributed to publications such as Art Papers, Art in Print, Sculpture, and The Washington Post.

 Her recent project, "Plastic in Motion: Frederick Eversley's Parabolic Lenses of the 1970s," is featured as the cover story in the Fall 2022 issue of American Art. The article considers Eversley’s cast polyester resin sculptures in the context of his experience as an aerospace engineer, his exposure to the Los Angeles art scene, and his innovative approach to plastics.

 O'Steen also contributed a chapter to the book Plastics, Environment, Culture, and the Politics of Waste, edited by Tatiana Konrad and published by Edinburgh University Press in January 2023. Her essay, "The Pioneers of Plasticraft: When Artists Found Plastics in the United States," looks at Alexander Calder's brief collaboration with Plexiglas producer Rohm & Haas at the 1939 New York World's Fair.