Spotlight
Associate Professor of Art Doug Himes Retires After 19 Years With Southern Virginia University
After 19 years of dedicated teaching and mentorship, Associate Professor of Art Doug Himes retired at the end of the 2024–25 academic year. Honored with the designation of professor emeritus of Southern Virginia University, Himes spent his duration at the university teaching fundamental art classes and inspiring hundreds of students.
Himes began teaching at Southern Virginia University in 2006, where he has taught drawing I & II, watercolor, oil painting, design, printmaking, and bookmaking. He was the Art Program Coordinator from 2008–18, and was heavily involved in the university’s travel study program, in which he took students to Italy, China, England, Greece, and Paris.
“I think that my experiences with individual students have been the most memorable,” said Himes. “There are some occasions when you see students have these epiphanies and they are thrilled, and they share it with you and you’re thrilled too because you’re a part of that.”
Believing that education is the refinement of the soul, involving not just the intellect but the whole person, Himes has seen Southern Virginia University’s educational vision mature as it developed a diverse core curriculum grounded in the liberal arts since he arrived on campus.
“I think that when we are looking at the core, we are fundamentally looking at how we can best address the refining process for souls,” said Himes. “We have to hunger for education. And so one thing we professors, and the university, want to do is share with our students a passion for that refining process.”
Himes’ work has been featured in Brigham Young University Museum of Art and Springville Museum of Art. He has also participated in several national and international exhibitions, including the Big Ink Printmaking Invitational in 2020 and Meditations on Belief: 2019 LDS International Art Competition.
Looking back, Himes’s favorite international exhibition was Art of Theologians in 2014, when he worked with one of his art alumni Allison Walker (‘13) for her master’s thesis at the University of St. Andrews. Himes helped Walker arrange the art exhibit she curated for her thesis about the cross section of art and theology.
“I was able to help her by contacting people I knew whose work had a distinctive religious purpose,” said Himes. “She curated the show, and I was able to participate–my work was included–as well as the work of others I helped her find and the work of people that she knew.”
Prior to coming to Southern University, Himes taught drawing and design as an adjunct professor at Missouri State and printmaking as an assistant professor of art at Brigham Young University. He completed post graduate work at the Institute for the Book Arts at the University of Alabama and a MFA in Printmaking from Brigham Young University.
Himes’ retirement was celebrated by his colleagues and friends on Friday, May 2 in the Ballroom, where he was given a book made by Associate Professor of Art Jacob Ricks that featured a collection of letters and art from students, alumni, and faculty.