Ellen Wetmore Named University’s 2026 Donahue Professor in the Arts
Image by Courtesy photo 08/18/2026
Media contacts: David Joyner, executive director, communications and digital media, David_Joyner@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, associate director of media relations, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
LOWELL, Mass. – What brings you joy?
UMass Lowell Art and Design Professor Ellen Wetmore has embarked on a quest to deliver such happiness as the university’s 2026 Nancy Donahue Endowed Professor in the Arts.
Supported by a two-year, $60,000 grant provided through the professorship, Wetmore will teach and lead her students in designing and building “Joy,” a freestanding, interactive sensory and entertainment experience.
The project seeks to create a physical space, complete with immersive video and audio, where the public can celebrate the rich heritages of the city’s people. Wetmore aims to unveil a prototype of the project inside the university’s Mahoney Hall next May, with the hope of locating the completed installation in downtown Lowell in 2028.
“Lowell offers dozens of cultures, each of which has imagery and mythology that’s gorgeous and worth gathering. I envision each participating student researching a character and myth related to a local traditional culture and adapting that knowledge into this shared experience,” Wetmore said.
UMass Lowell students selected to participate in the project will receive paid, career-connected experience, which is a hallmark of a UMass Lowell education. Wetmore hopes the technical and entrepreneurial skills the students gain will help them become lifelong artists.
“We are thrilled to see Ellen Wetmore recognized as this year’s Nancy Donahue Professor. Ellen is an extraordinarily imaginative artist and teacher, and her ‘Joy’ project beautifully brings together creative innovation, hands-on student learning, entrepreneurship and meaningful engagement with the Lowell community,” said Dean Sue Kim, who leads UMass Lowell’s College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, where she is an English professor.
One of Wetmore’s inspirations for “Joy” traces back to her childhood, as she noted her father was a model train enthusiast who built a miniature landscape complete with tracks and scenery in the family home.
“I had this realistic, ready-made environment in my house,” she said.
Along with her affinity for art installations, Wetmore’s pursuits include creating art with video, computers, robotics, photography, sculpture and mixed-media drawings. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Tufts University. She has also completed additional programs at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.
At UMass Lowell, she teaches an art foundation first-year course and an entrepreneurship in the arts course, among others.
The professorship, and the creative opportunities it allows, are “a gift from Nancy Donahue and the university,” that honor her career, she said. “It’s another example of how this university makes this a really good place to work.”
Together with her late husband Richard, Lowell philanthropist Nancy Donahue established the Nancy Donahue Endowed Professorship in the Arts in 2009 to help connect UMass Lowell’s music, fine arts, theater and creative writing programs with Lowell’s arts scene. The series seeks to nurture artistic passion and talent in students, while taking advantage of the significant artistic resources within the city of Lowell.
Members of the public who would like more information should email Carolyn_Brooks@uml.edu.