{{Short description|American artist, musician and art therapist}} {{Infobox person | name = Patrick Dougher | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing [[brackets]] --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = <!-- {{birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per [[WP:DOB]]. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> | birth_place = [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]] | other_names = | occupation = Visual Artist | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | awards = }}
'''Patrick Dougher''' is an artist, musician, and [[Art therapy|art therapist]] who was born at [[Kings County Hospital Center|King's County Hospital]] and raised in [[Brooklyn]], New York, growing up in the [[Bushwick, Brooklyn|Bushwick]] neighborhood until the age of 10.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.whatshouldwedo.com/blog/brooklyn-artist-patrick-dougher-groundswell/|title=Meet the Insanely Stylish Rising Art Star Who Beat Homelessness and Addiction|last=Do™|first=What Should We|date=2019-03-19|website=What Should We Do™|language=en|access-date=2019-11-09|archive-date=2019-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109011940/https://www.whatshouldwedo.com/blog/brooklyn-artist-patrick-dougher-groundswell/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was featured in the [[Humans of New York]] series.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/What-its-like-to-be-a-Human-of-New-York.html|title=What it's like to be a 'Human of New York'|date=2014-02-10|website=IrishCentral.com|language=en|access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref>
== Personal life == Dougher was born in New York City to an Irish father and an African American mother. His partner is [[:fr:Sélène Saint-Aimé|Sélène Saint-Aimé]], a French-Caribbean bassist.<ref>{{cite web | last1=Rose | first1=Steve | title='I marvel I have any brain cells left': Artist Patrick Dougher on drugs, drink and blowing his big break with Sade | work=The Guardian | date=13 May 2025 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/may/13/i-marvel-i-have-any-brain-cells-left-drummer-patrick-dougher-on-drugs-drink-and-blowing-his-big-break-with-sade }}</ref>
== Music career == Dougher began playing the drums at the age of 17 and has performed and recorded as a drummer.<ref name=":0" /> He played with the ska band Boilers and Toasters, performed with [[Sade (singer)|Sade]], recorded with [[Easy Star All-Stars]], and performed at [[CBGB]], [[The Roxy (New York City)|the Roxy]], [[Webster Hall]], and other venues.<ref name=":0" />
== Education and art therapy career == As an art therapist, Dougher worked with children living with HIV and AIDS at King's County Hospital in the early 2000s.<ref name=":0" /> As an Educator, he has worked as a youth advisor with the New York City Department of Education<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://thehellebore.com/god-body-art-an-interview-with-patrick-dougher/|title=God Body Art: An Interview with Patrick Dougher|date=2018-12-31|website=The Hellebore|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref> and as a teaching artist at Project Reach and Studio in a School; he serves as the Interim Director of Education for [[BRIC Arts Media]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://nevahblackdown.com/2017/10/01/patrick-dougher-art-artist-%e2%80%8band-human-being-combined/|title=Patrick Dougher: Art, Artist, Activist, and Human Being Combined|last=nevahblackdown|date=October 1, 2017|website=NevahBlackDown|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-09}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
== Acting career == Dougher played a lead role in "Brooklyn 63," a 2014 production by Ping Chong 651 Arts.<ref name=":1" /> He has also performed as a poet, using his poetry to criticize the gentrification of Brooklyn neighborhoods.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://patch.com/new-york/fortgreene/brooklyn-poet-slams-gentrification-first-came-hipsters-tame-land|title=Brooklyn Poet Slams Gentrification: 'First Came the Hipsters to Tame the Land'|date=2016-04-29|website=Fort Greene-Clinton Hill, NY Patch|language=en|access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref>
== Art career == Dougher's art career began at the age of sixteen in New York City, during the late 1970s, as a studio assistant in SoHo.<ref name=":0" /> He is well known for his "Art Cans," which make use of flattened aluminum cans and draw on traditional African art as well as [[Xerox art]].<ref name=":0" />
As a Program Director for Groundswell, a community mural arts organization in Brooklyn, NY, beginning in 2011, Dougher directed the creation of over 300 murals across New York City, depicting community-focused issues such as gun violence, women, immigration, race, and diversity.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.groundswellmural.org/content/patrick-dougher|title=Patrick Dougher {{!}} Groundswell|website=www.groundswellmural.org|access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref> He has spoken about the role of art and especially of mural arts as a tool for creating visual legacies within communities that are changing rapidly due to gentrification.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://shelterforce.org/2017/07/21/art-face-gentrification/|title=Art in the Face of Gentrification|last=Tianga|first=Keli A.|date=2017-07-21|website=Shelterforce|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref>
As a mural artist, Dougher designed "Spread Love," the first in a series of murals organized by [[MoCADA]] in celebration of its 20th anniversary. "Spread Love" was unveiled in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, in early 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bklyner.com/mocada-mural-reminds-brooklynites-to-take-it-easy/|title=MoCADA Mural Reminds Brooklynites To 'Take It Easy'|date=2019-10-21|website=BKLYNER|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bkreader.com/2019/06/24/familyfest-jumpstarts-the-summer-with-kid-friendly-activities-and-a-mural/|title=FamilyFest Kicks off Summer with New Community Mural|last=Innis|first=Charlie|date=2019-06-24|website=BK Reader|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref>
Much of Dougher's work focuses on representing the concept of God in and around people,<ref name=":0" /> and seeks to connect African American culture to its sacred African heritage.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://museumofnonvisibleart.com/authorsite/patrick-dougher/,%20https://museumofnonvisibleart.com/interviews/patrick-dougher/|title=Patrick Dougher|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref> He is well known for his God Body series of artworks, which depict sacred objects using found and recycled materials.<ref name=":2" />
Dougher also worked as assistant curator at [[The Africa Center|The Museum of African Art]].<ref name=":2" />
=== Selected exhibitions ===
* "God Body," MoCADA, November 8 - December 22, 2019<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mocada.org/2019/11/01/patrick-dougher-god-body/|title=Patrick Dougher: God Body – MoCADA|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-09|archive-date=2019-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109020708/http://mocada.org/2019/11/01/patrick-dougher-god-body/|url-status=dead}}</ref> * "Art and Lit," (group exhibition), South Africa, June 2019<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.omenkaonline.com/patrick-dougher-on-africa-art-spirituality-and-healing/|title=Patrick Dougher on African Art, Spirituality and Healing|last=Olaniyan|first=Oliver Enwonwu and Oyindamola|date=2019-07-02|website=Omenka Online|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref> * "DWU History Exhibition," ARTs East New York Gallery, January 2019<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bkreader.com/2018/12/21/exhibit-highlighting-the-lives-of-brooklyns-domestic-workers-to-open-at-arts-eny/|title=Exhibit Highlighting the Lives of Brooklyn's Domestic Workers to...|last=Leonhardt|first=Andrea|date=2018-12-21|website=BK Reader|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-09|archive-date=2019-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109015214/https://www.bkreader.com/2018/12/21/exhibit-highlighting-the-lives-of-brooklyns-domestic-workers-to-open-at-arts-eny/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.godbodyart.com/ Artist Website] * * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOamXlOs1Cs YouTube clip of Dougher performing drums with Sade, June 1993]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dougher, Patrick}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Artists from New York City]] [[Category:American male painters]] [[Category:African-American painters]] [[Category:American people of Irish descent]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:21st-century African-American people]]