Artist Guest of Honor: Donato Giancola

Since graduating summa cum laude in painting from Syracuse University, Donato’s paintings have graced the covers of over three hundred novels and landed numerous peer honors including three Hugo Awards, three Gold and six Silver Medals from Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, the prestigious Hamilton King Award from the Society of Illustrators, and twenty-one Chesley Awards from the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists (ASFA).  Notable clients include: The United Nations, LucasFilm, National Geographic, CNN, DC Comics, US Postal Service, Ballantine Books, DAW Books, Simon&Schuster, Tor Books, Milton-Bradley, and Hasbro.  Donato recognizes the significant cultural role played by art and makes personal efforts to contribute to the expansion and appreciation of genre works; to these ends he serves as an instructor at the School of Visual Arts, the online SmArt School, and lectures extensively at conventions, seminars and universities worldwide.  His studio is currently filled with themed works for exhibition, paintings and drawings for commercial projects, and ongoing privately commissioned assignments.

Donato lives and works with his wife and two daughters in Brooklyn, NY.