Arne Hansen, noted art historian and museum curator said of Mitchell's work: "Don Mitchell, a nationally collected Colorado sculptor is an interesting study in contrasts. His somewhat surreal, colorful sculptures are reminiscent, but not derivative, of the works of Miro, Calder, and Dubuffet. But the humor and odd juxtapositions of elements in Mitchell's work makes it child-like and extremely sophisticated. This mixture of qualities attracts both very young viewers and major collectors of American art”. To date Don has sold over 1200 sculptures.
Don was raised in the small rural town of Rochester, Mich. He attended both Ferris State College and Oakland University, majoring in biology and philosophy. He then completed a four year apprenticeship in metal fabrication in the experimental engineering group of General Motors Truck and Coach Division. Upon graduation from that program, Don transferred to the Experimental Stress group where he was a project engineer. Don's early career was centered around the creation, engineering, manufacturing and management of products, with companies like General Motors, Samsonite and Lear Siegler. In retrospect, it seems very clear that all of Don's education and career activities have been a preparation and foundation for his art and sculpture.
Since completion of his first public monumental sculpture in 1990, commercial and public commissions have become an important and growing aspect of Don's work. Thirty public sculptures have been completed since 1999, with sizes ranging to 242 inches in height. Large scale wall sculptures which depict in a positive colorful way a product line or process, people interacting, or a fun story is another growing area. Six monumental outdoor sculptures for the Standley Lake Marketplace in Westminster, CO were completed in 1999 and an eighteen-foot tall public sculpture called New Ideas was completed for the City of Lakewood, CO in 2000. A large wall mounted sculpture was completed in 2001 for South Suburban Park and Recreation District. In January 2000, Don was one of the judges for the International Snow Sculpture Championship in Breckenridge, CO. In 2002, Don completed a twenty foot tall sculpture for the University of Nebraska at Kearney and a monumental piece for the City of Aurora, CO, new Sports Park. In 2003 a monumental piece was completed for the City of Littleton, CO. In 2004, Don completed a series of six large windscreen panels for the city of Oklahoma City, OK , and a large private commission in Iowa. An eighteen foot tall piece for the city of Thornton, CO was completed in March of 2005. In 2006 Don completed a large private commission for JWD Company, LLC and another for the City of Iowa City, Iowa.
In 1991 his small sculptures were introduced at the museum store show in Houston, Texas. Currently, more than thirty major museum stores across the country are carrying these pieces, including the Smithsonian Institute, The Whitney, in New York, MOCA in Los Angeles and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Mexico City. Typically these pieces are about 18 inches high, are made from aluminum and often were created from maquette studies of larger sculptures.