Donna Thompson Ray is the chief appraiser of ATFA Appraisals, an art appraisal and consulting firm based in New York City and Westfield, New Jersey. Ms. Thompson Ray is a Candidate member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA). She has been a visual arts consultant for over twenty-five years.
Ms. Thompson Ray is a former fine art photographer and gallery manager (London, England). She has published articles on collecting and appraising fine art. She has participated in educational/public programs and exhibitions hosted at the Brooklyn Museum, Longwood Art Gallery, Watchung Arts Center, and conferences of the Women’s Caucus for Art and Society of Photographic Educators. She is currently a doctoral candidate in historical studies at Drew University (Madison, New Jersey), and serves as Consultant for the Museum of Art and Origins (New York City), one of the largest collections of African Art in the greater New York metropolitan area, with the exception of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Brooklyn Museum. She is a former-Vice President, and President of the ASA^s Northern New Jersey Chapter 73.
Specialization: Personal Property: Paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture; art of the African diaspora (African art, African-American art, Haitian/Caribbean art, Latino/Latin American art, American paintings and folk art).
Publications
“An African Art Estate,” Magnusson Group Blog, January 2016
“ATFA Appraisals in Conversation with Artist, Laura James,” ATFA Appraisals Blog (May
2013) video
“What Kind of Appraisal Will I Get?,” ATFA Appraisals Blog, (October 2008)
“A 10-Step Guide to Collecting Fine Art with Consumer Confidence,” African Voices (April
2008)
“Contemporary Images, Ancient Traditions: The Art of Laura James,” Fifteen Year Retrospective: The Art of Laura James, The College of New Rochelle, (December 2007) exhibition catalog essay
Professional and Membership Affiliations
American Historical Association
American Society of Appraisers, Candidate Member
Art Historians of American Art
Association of Historians of Nineteenth-Century Art
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
College Art Association
National Council of Public History