Biography

Doug Haynes is a native of Madison, WI. He attended Thoreau Elementary, Cherokee Middle and West High. He was deeply influenced by his teachers, especially Jeff Hagen, Karen Currie, Larry Everard and the late Don Hunt. As an undergraduate at Kalamazoo College, Haynes studied art with Bernard Palchik, David Small and Marcia Wood. He later acquired a degree in art education from the University of Minnesota. Following college, Haynes transitioned from ceramics to painting. His work runs the gamut from plein air, florals, self portrait, biblical illustration and works inspired by life in Korea. He has exhibited frequently and has been an active member of the Wisconsin Visual Artists* (WVA) since the early 1990’s. Haynes served as editor of the Wisconsin Visual Artists publication Art in Wisconsin and has edited the online site www.wisconsinvisualartists.com from 2003 to 2018. Haynes assists over 50 artist in the creation of their individual websites through software he developed ( www.fineartpost.com ) which enables artists to create their own website. Haynes has written extensively about the arts of Wisconsin including numerous articles for Wisconsin Visual Artists Magazine.Early on, he served the South Central chapter of WVA as membership chair and program chair. In 1993, he organized a juried exhibition which took place at the Porter Butts Gallery in the UW Madison Memorial Union. Haynes instigated murals for the city of Madison, First Baptist Church and painted murals under Peggy Flora Zalucha at Millenium Murals. The Governor’s Awards in Support of the Arts selected Haynes in 2000 to create a set of 6 commissioned watercolors to be presented to award winners as well as one for the permanent collection of the Chazen. Haynes was part of the leadership team that prepared an arts exchange between artists of Japan and Wisconsin Visual Artists. After the Japanese artists visited Wisconsin to exhibit and form bonds of friendship, the Japanese reciprocated by inviting Wisconsin artists to visit and exhibit in Japan. In the early 2000’s, Haynes supported an effort spearheaded by Gary Gresl to create a Wisconsin art gallery in a historic coast guard station in Milwaukee. The project never got past the proposal stage, however it did lead to the creation of the Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Awards (WVALAA) and underscored the need for what would eventually become the relocated Museum of Wisconsin Art. Haynes was one of the initial members of the WVALAA induction committee. In 2003, Haynes organized an exhibition titled Living in Two Worlds for the Museum of Wisconsin Art. Haynes helped put on a number of statewide juried exhibitions held at the Wisconsin Academy’s Steenbock Gallery including coordinating the 2004 Self-Portrait show. In 2006, Haynes revisited the theme of self-portrait when he created 36 self portraits over the course of 36 days of chemotherapy. In 2008, Haynes began a project to illustrate the Bible. Since that time he has created over 500 pen and ink illustrations and presented the work in Washington D.C. and Seoul. In 2013, Haynes formed an art CSA to sell paintings in advance to his plein air event called 30 paintings in 30 days. In 2003, Haynes began editing the WVA magazine and website. Haynes also wrote numerous articles, reviews and artist profiles. He secured a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board to expand and enhance the magazine. Haynes’ innovative website design created a database of membership records and allowed for email announcements to be sent out to the members, as well as online entry and jurying capabilities. The role of magazine editor was transferred to Aaron Wilbers in 2011 and in September of 2018 Haynes stepped down from his role as website manager. With the weight of these duties lifted, Haynes has increased his artistic output. Recent projects include Life is not always easy (2018), Really Big Prints (2018 and 2021), The Bible in color (2019), Spring Art Tour (2019), 30 Watercolor Landscapes (2019) Father, Son / Poet, Painter (2021) and the State Street Coloring Book (2021) and the Wisconsin GOP History Coloring Book (2024).

*The name Wisconsin Visual Artists (WVA) did not emerge until 2008. At the time it was named Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors (WP&S).