Faculty/Staff
Arts and Humanities

Doug Fiely,
Assistant Professor of Art
Schomburg Series Director

Bio
Doug Fiely was born in 1950 in a tilted house overlooking Grand Lake in Celina, Ohio. His grandfather was the owner of a "landing" consisting of several cottages and one or two bait shops, which also served as cafes for the fishing folk. He attended Immaculate Conception elementary and high school, graduating "cum laude" in 1968. Having developed a keen interest in popular music and art and after a period of vacillating between the two, Doug decided to try his hand at art school at Bowling Green State University in 1968 as an art major. Loving all aspects of communication, he enrolled in the education program in his Junior year and received a teaching certificate in 1972.

During the same year and after a haircut, Doug was hired as a high school art instructor in Stryker, Ohio. Deciding to stay for a year or two, he ended up there for 30 wonderful years, retiring in 2001.

During his sophomore year at Bowling Green, he was awarded a second place for an intaglio print he created, called "Guard at the Gate." From that point on he was hooked on printmaking and continued graduate studies at BG, receiving an MA degree in 1975. In 1978 he was invited to exhibit a one-man show at Defiance College and in 1980 was awarded the position of adjunct instructor of printmaking.

Having been accepted into the MFA program at BG, Doug had continued to make prints, show his work and receive many awards in regional and national competitions. The position at DC and the organization of a home studio with his own press enabled him to continue to be prolific in a medium that he loves..He was able to catch the eye of some Oregon poets and illustrated some works published by Seizure Press in the early 1980s. Over the past several years he has re-invigorated his interest in painting and is currently working on large ceramic forms using a printmaker's approach to surface decoration.

This past summer, Doug was awarded a first place in Graphics at the Crosby Gardens Art Festival in Toledo, Ohio. . ."a great honor bestowed on me out of 250 other artists," he says. In April he was selected as one of 12 artists to display work in an international show in Wooster, Ohio: Functional Ceramics 2004.

Doug says this of himself:
Having accepted the position of full time art instructor at Defiance College in 2001 and working alongside professor Steve Smith, I am again re-inspired both artistically and in the classroom. The campus community at the college is a wonderful source of joy for me, both in the studio classes and in Art History and Global Civilization.

After years of performing live music with the Hip Waiters, I have put the electric guitar(mostly) to rest and occasionally perform acoustically at local venues. With new gallery affiliations and a host of upcoming festivals and shows, I continue to create works of art in a variety of media. My desire is to transfer my enthusiasm to the students here at Defiance College as they continue to inspire me.

Contact
Phone:419-783-2452
e-mail: dfiely@defiance.edu