[4] His grandfather operated a photoengraving business, which Powell credits as influential in sparking his later love of art.

[8] Powell switched to art history, and studied under the legendary art history professors S. Lane Faison, Jr.,[8] Whitney Stoddard,[9] and William Pierson, Jr.[10] Powell enlisted in the United States Navy in 1966, winning a spot in the Navy Officer Candidate School.

[4][11] The same year he received his Ph.D., Powell took a position as assistant professor of art history at the University of Texas at Austin.

[12] In 1976, Powell left the University of Texas to take a position as a curator at the National Gallery of Art (NGA).

[15] During his time as curator, Powell organized some of the NGA's biggest exhibitions, including "The Splendor of Dresden: Five Centuries of Art Collecting" in 1978 and "American Light: The Luminist Movement" in 1980.

[6] In January 1980, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) hired Powell to be its director.

[23] When he was appointed, Powell said that he believed the era of "blockbuster" exhibitions was ending, and that his focus would be to utilize the NGA's permanent collection.

In May 1994, the NGA learned that its painting, The Holy Family on the Steps, was a forgery and not the work of 17th-century French painter Nicolas Poussin.

The report said that these conditions "threaten[ed] the security of the collection" and placed works of art "at risk" of "serious damage.

"[25][26] The report documented a leaky roof, dripping skylights, flooded storerooms, and burst radiators that poured clouds of steam into galleries.

In one case, a poorly maintained humidifier turned the varnish on John Singleton Copley's Watson and the Shark an opaque white.

The report also criticized the management structure at the museum, documented low employee morale, and uncovered poor minority hiring practices.

[25] Powell attacked WJLA's report as "hyperbole and exaggeration", and said that not a single work of art had been damaged.

[26] He also said that the NGA had been aware of the problems for several years,[26] and that he already had a plan in place to implement the consultants' recommendations within 12 months.

[27] Powell ordered that $30,000 from the NGA's Fund for International Exchange be used to reopen the Vermeer exhibit (but no other parts of the National Gallery of Art) for one week.

During his tenure as chairman of the CFA, Powell and the CFA provided input and advice for the Monumental Core Framework Plan, a 2006 study by the National Capital Planning Commission which made recommendations regarding land use, transportation, and urban design in areas around the National Mall.

He was elected to a three-year term on the Pitzer College Board of Trustees in 1986,[42] and was a director of the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation in 2005.

[43] Powell was member of many academic organizations, including the American Philosophical Society,[44] the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities, and the National Portrait Gallery Commission.