"something came down to me" | dougie padilla

ABOUT DOUGIE PADILLA

Dr. Swami Lucky Dougie Padilla is a self-taught visionary artist of Norwegian/ Mexican/cowboy roots living in the wilds of Northfield, Minnesota, and Pepin, Wisconsin, USA. In his 74 years he has lived in a tent thru a sub-zero winter, farmed soybeans, survived the psychedelic travails of Haight-Ashbury, created and lost a million dollar a year business, trained with a Chicano power cadre, meditated and lived with his guru in India, done thousands of drawings and paintings, and founded/co-founded numerous organizations and businesses, among them Dougieland Studios, Art Jones Gallery, Art-A-Whirl, Grupo Soap del Corazón, The Borneo Group, Salon Artisimo, the Minnesota Men’s Conference, Paris Northeast, and Luna Brava Press. For occupations he has counted artist and arts activist, farmer, blacksmith’s apprentice, jade cutter, sportswear designer, psychic, single father, soccer coach, arts educator, yoga instructor, carpenter, house painter, hospital orderly, etc. He learned to sight sing Bach cantatas at age 11, lasted two embattled years in college (1966-8), then wandered schizophrenic on the streets of Chicago. He had his first heart failure at age 20, helped birth his daughter in a rural commune, and coached and played soccer until his foot didn’t work anymore (age 51).

He has studied life and spirituality with Swami Vishnudevananda, Swami Venkatesananda, Stephen Gaskin, Katagiri Roshi, Osho (Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh), Michael Macmacca, Robert Bly, James Hillman, Malidome Some’, Martin’ Prectel and Echo Bodine... among others. He sees the CoBrA school, Manuel Mendive, Pharoah Sanders, Federico Garcia Lorca, Nikki de Saint Phalle, Manuel Mendive, Howard Finster, William Blake, Rahasaan Roland Kirk, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Marc Chagall, Louise Nevelson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Louis Erdrich, Yusef Lateef, and Artemio Rodriguez as pillars of his aesthetic universe. He has shown at the Museé Halle Saint Pierre in Paris, the National Mexican Museum of Art in Chicago, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Frederick R. Weisman Museum, the Minnesota Museum of American Art, Projeck Traum in Germany, the Plains Museum in Fargo, on the streets and in the cultural centers of Chile, and in countless galleries and arts arenas throughout the U.S.A.

A lifelong activist, Dougie Padilla has served on boards and committees of numerous arts nonprofits, has educated and mentored artists of all ages, and has curated and organized exhibitions and art events at all levels. In 2000 he co-founded Grupo Soap del Corazon, a Latinx artists' group that has had 44 exhibitions and shown the work of well over 100 artists in a span of 23 years. For this he has received numerous awards, among them several Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowships, the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District Vision Award, two Ofrenda awards from CreArte, Chicano Latino Cultural Center and Museum, and the Jerome Foundation Travel Grant. He was named Minneapolis’ City Pages’ “Artist of the Year” and has been nominated for a Bush Foundation lifetime achievement award. He resides in lovely Northfield, Minnesota (and sometimes Pepin, Wisconsin) with his lovely wife, Susan Jacobsen and has wonderful kids and grandkids and even a great-grandkid and continues to greatly enjoy his trips around the sun.

Gallery Hours: 

12-5pm THURs, FRIs & SATURDAYs (or by appt contact northeastsculpture@gmail.com or 612-743-6664)