Dougie Padilla

Last updated
Dougie Padilla
Born (1948-07-28) July 28, 1948 (age 77)
St. Louis Park, Minnesota, U.S.
Occupations
Years active1960s–present
Known for
  • Chicano movement activism
  • co-founding Art-a-Whirl
  • founding Grupo Soap del Corazón
Notable work
  • River Town
  • Pepin Diaries
  • Grupo Soap del Corazón projects
Style
Movement

Dougie Padilla (born July 28, 1948) [1] is a Chicano poet, multimedia visual artist, and activist of Norwegian and Mexican descent. [2] [3] He works in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Pepin, Wisconsin. [4] [5] Padilla has been active since the late 1960s and is associated with Chicano cultural activism and community-based art initiatives in the Upper Midwest.

Contents

He is a co-founder of Art-a-Whirl, an annual open-studio event in Northeast Minneapolis, and a founding member of the traveling art collective Grupo Soap del Corazón. [6] [7] His work spans poetry, visual art, and collaborative projects, and often engages with themes of identity, ritual, and community history.

Early life

Padilla was tutored by his mother and played piano and French horn as a youth. [8]

He attended Lake Forest College for two years, where he became involved in activism through marches, picketing, and protests. During this time, he connected with Chicano poet and activist Corky Gonzales and other Chicano leaders. In the late 1960s, he trained with Reies Tijerina’s Alianza in New Mexico, furthering his involvement in the Chicano Movement. [9]

In 1968, Padilla moved to California, where he became involved in the social and cultural movements emerging in San Francisco and Berkeley. He studied spirituality under Ram Dass, [10] Swami Muktananda, and Suzuki Roshi. Following his first heart failure at the age of 20, Padilla’s interest in spirituality deepened. [8]

Artistic inspiration and style

Padilla is self-taught in the visual arts. [11] He initially worked in music and poetry before expanding into mask-making and drawing, and later into painting, ceramics, and printmaking. [12]

His work draws inspiration from Día de los Muertos traditions and from ritual practices he studied with Native American and African spiritual practitioners. [13] Padilla has also cited the Mexican tradition of ofrendas as an influence. [14] [2] His visual art frequently features calaveras (skull imagery), referencing long-standing Mexican cultural representations of death. [15]

Major works

Grupo Soap del Corazón

In 2000, Padilla and Xavier Tavera co-created the community art group Grupo Soap del Corazón, which aimed to further the "Latinization of Minnesota and the upper Midwest of the USA". The group includes artists from various ethnic backgrounds and origins: Latinx, Native American, African, and Euro-American. [16] [17] [18] The collective is mobile and focuses on artwork that is easily transported and translated into different community contexts. As of 2024, they represent almost 90 local, national, and international artists. [19]

In 2006, the group showcased two exhibitions in Valparaíso, Chile, including "El Otro Americano (The Other American)" at El Instituto Chileno Norteamericano de Cultura. [19] The exhibition aimed to foster connections across identities and cultures, and support relationships among North and South Americans. Locally, the group has worked on the "Pepin Portrait Project" [20] photographing residents of rural Pepin, Wisconsin. [9] In 2021, Grupo Soap del Corazón published a zine, Fabulista 2, featuring political cartoons and poetry by Padilla along with the work of other artists in the collective. This zine features themes related to the struggles of Chicanxs and Latinxs and addresses the political uprising of the summer of 2020. [21]

In 2024, Tavera and Padilla, alongside the Grupo Soap del Corazón, curated an exhibit with fifteen Latinx visual artists at the Minnesota Museum of American Art. The exhibit, "Hilo de la Sangre" (Thread of the Blood), featured topics such as blood as the "foundation of life," complex lineage, and the cultural symbols of sacrifice and atonement. [16]

Poetry

Padilla returned to poetry in 2019, publishing River Town [22] and Pepin Diaries [23] with Luna Brava Press.

Personal life

As of 2021, Padilla lives in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, which he co-created, and commutes to his studio, Dougieland Pepin, in Pepin. [24]

References

  1. ↑ "Dougie Padilla". ProjekTraum FN.
  2. 1 2 Tundel, Nikki (2012-01-17). "Artist Dougie Padilla creates loud pieces through meditation". MPR News. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Public Radio.
  3. ↑ "Dougie Padilla". Clay Squared to Infinity.
  4. ↑ "Frontera Lake Street: Six Artists Living in Minnesota". Absolutearts.com. World Wide Arts Resources Corporation. October 10, 2001. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Doug Padilla's Art Studio". Atlas Obscura.
  6. ↑ "Dougie Padilla and i like you". PBS. Twin Cities Public Television. January 6, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  7. ↑ Meet Minneapolis (2010-05-17). Doug Padilla on the Origins of Art-A-Whirl . Retrieved 2025-01-08– via YouTube.
  8. 1 2 "Dougie Padilla". Twin Cities PBS. 2013-06-01. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  9. 1 2 "Dougie Padilla". Latino Art Midwest. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  10. ↑ Kronsberg, Matthew (2019-08-09). "A Road Trip With Retro Charm—and a Car to Match". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660.
  11. ↑ Abbe, Mary (February 25, 2005). "Self-taught painter Doug Padilla wrestles with his demons". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Star Tribune Media Company. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  12. ↑ "320: Dougie Padilla." WEDU Arts Plus, Season 3, Episode 20, PBS NC, 2014-07-03.
  13. ↑ Harper, Nick (September 2019). "Solo Exhibition for Art Legend – Northeast Minneapolis Arts District". Art District News.
  14. ↑ Nelson, Rick (2013-10-31). "Restaurant news: Chef Shack and more". Star Tribune.
  15. ↑ "dougie padilla". lucky dougie padilla. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
  16. 1 2 "Hilo de la Sangre (Thread of the Blood) – Minnesota Museum of American Art" . Retrieved 2025-01-08.
  17. ↑ "Hilo de la Sangre". MPLSART.com. MPLSART. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  18. ↑ "Things To Do in Minneapolis and around the Twin Cities". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
  19. 1 2 "ArtOrg : Grupo Soap Del Corazón". ArtOrg. February 20, 2014. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  20. ↑ Olson, Mark (2018-05-29). "New exhibit at Sower Gallery". SWNewsMedia.
  21. ↑ Grupo Soap del Corazón (2021). "Fabulista Final". calameo.com.
  22. ↑ Padilla, Dougie (2020). River Town. Wisconsin: Luna Brava Press.
  23. ↑ Padilla, Dougie (2019). Pepin Diaries. Wisconsin: Luna Brava Press.
  24. ↑ "Dougieland Studios". TravelWisconsin. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
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