Doug Orr

ARTIST STATEMENT

I come from a long line of artists and story tellers. My e-mail address of ”Mindsculptor1″ and my business name “Orr Visual Communications” both tend to say a lot about me as a person. My life is about Visual Communications and my intent is, through my own personal way of story telling, to try and sculpt a bit of everyone’s mind by bringing forth memories of past feelings lost in a bygone age, perhaps evoking some lost or hidden truth.

The viewer is encouraged to open his mind, step into my world and join me on my journey or just look at my work as decoration and leave it at that; no further explanation needed.

I am fascinated with the Iconic Art that I’ve seen in my travels and I believe that it offers me a great outlet for my work.

BIO

Douglas was born in Washington State and began drawing with the help of a 1st grade classmate who showed him how to really see what he was looking at in 1968. In high school Douglas was a teacher’s aid in art all three years and by 1980 he had his own art studio and gallery in downtown Aberdeen where he taught beginning drawing and painting and showcased not only his art but that of his students as well.

Douglas attended Grays Harbor College where he was the founder of the Grays Harbor Arts Society serving as its President in 1984/1985 and as Vice President in 1986. The group raised money to offer the only local artist scholarships available to students continuing their education in art.

In 1977 Douglas started working for JCPenney building newspaper and radio ads as well as dressing the stores 23 show windows. In 1986, after earning an AA degree at Grays Harbor College, Doug moved to Long Beach California to attend the graphic design program at CSULB and work as Sr. Visual Merchandising Manager for the Lakewood JCPenney. By 2002 Douglas had already been the Visual Manager of the area’s 4 largest stores and District Manager for LA County Home Lines.

In 2002 Douglas left JCPenney to open a restaurant in Long Beach that featured Fine foods, wines, art and music and by 2007, through the sale of art and music, his restaurant was putting over $25,000 a year into the hands of the local Long Beach arts community. While operating his restaurant Douglas became a board member of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association where he started the Street Decor Committee and got $25,000 to form a tree planting program.

Doug has also served as Vic President of the Long Beach Shakespeare Company from 2003 to present. Currently Doug operates ORR Visual Communications, an interior/exterior design and construction company which he has owned since 1997 and is active with the Second City Arts, DDR Projects and Long Beach Arts.