Free to the public! Spend Saturday afternoon with internationally known artist Dougie Padilla as he reads through a series of his poems. The artist will give us insight into his creative process during the reading. The first 10 people to attend will receive a signed and editioned letterpress broadside from the artist. In the meantime, enjoy a selection of poems here.
“Dr. Swami Lucky Dougie” Padilla is a self-taught visionary artist of Norwegian/Mexican/cowboy roots living in the wilds of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, and Pepin, Wisconsin. In his 71 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, fought against the war in Vietnam, meditated and lived with his guru in India, done thousands of drawings and paintings, and founded or co-founded numerous organizations and businesses. Among occupations, he has counted: artist and arts activist, farmer, blacksmith’s apprentice, jade cutter, sportswear designer, psychic, carpenter, yoga instructor, and hospital orderly. He learned to sight-sing Bach cantatas at age 11, lasted two embattled years in college, wandered schizophrenic on the streets of Chicago, 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 (at age 51).
As a prolific artist, Padilla has been shown at the Museé Halle Saint Pierre in Paris, France, the Centro Cultural Ex-Carcel in Valparaiso, Chile, Projek Traum (Friedrichshafen Germany), the Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Fredrick Weisman Art Museum (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Plains Art Museum (Fargo, North Dakota), the National Mexican Museum of Art (Chicago, Illinois), and countless galleries throughout the Twin Cities and the United States.
