David LaPalombara is a Professor of Art at Ohio University, where he served as Director of the School of Art + Design from 2007 to 2017. He holds an MFA in Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and a BA in Art and Art History, Summa Cum Laude, from Oberlin College. His academic training deepened his connection to the spatially illusionistic painting, sculpture, and architecture of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque periods. After completing his MFA, he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome. He spent three years in Italy as a fellow and visiting artist. This experience continues to shape his artistic practice.
LaPalombara’s work spans painting, sculpture, installation, and photography and is unified by his exploration of spatial perception. His art physically and intellectually engages viewers, employing perspective manipulation, horizon line shifts, and experiments with color and light. Nature is a central theme in his work, serving as the subject and expressive vehicle.
His work has been exhibited across the United States, Canada, and Italy. It is included in the collections of the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Kennedy Museum of Art, Gund Collection, and the Elizabeth Noyce Collection, among others. He has contributed to City Secrets: Rome (2nd Edition) and published a review of Joel Sternfeld’s Campagna Romana in Aperture.
Beyond his artistic practice, LaPalombara has been actively involved in academic leadership and advocacy. He served on the National Council of Arts Administrators' Board of Directors and is a long-standing American Association of University Professors (AAUP) member. He was President of the Antioch College AAUP Chapter, completed a term as President of the Ohio Conference AAUP, and served on the Ohio Conference Executive Board of Trustees as a Non-Collective-Bargaining Council Member. He remains engaged with the Ohio University AAUP.