Play Greater
Play Greater
by Bob Doucette
“Since I have arrived in Peoria I have found it to be an open playground to express myself through my art. I’m thrilled to be part of a community that inspires and is committed to bringing play to all its people with such great offerings to get involved in from theater, film, sports, parks, to music and festivals etc.
“I for one had the greatest ‘play’ of my life creating a mural for the Simantel building in downtown Peoria. It was not just the exhilaration of climbing a ladder each day to create the biggest painting I’ve ever painted it was also the collaboration. In Peoria ‘the brotherhood of man’ is strong. When you ask for help people come happily to join in the fun! The folks who made this happen made this a blissful experience, but the people in the community who embrace it make it breathtaking.
“In ‘Play Greater’ creativity gives wing to empowerment through play. Peoria is developing into a rich community to embrace creativity. I depicted the city in a fun expressive cubist manner to express the sense of play. I think color lifts the spirit and I wanted to bring a sense of well-being through joy and bliss. The bird represents the spirit of creativity that enlivens people to take action to create to play!”
– Bob Doucette
Bob Doucette directed many popular animated children’s programs including the PBS SPROUT hits “Chloe’s Closet” and “Dive Olly Dive.” Doucette has also worked on such award-winning shows as “Clifford’s Puppy Days,” “Stephen Spielberg Presents: Tiny Toon Adventures” and “Stephen Spielberg Presents: Animaniacs.” Doucette’s independently animated films won him many prestigious awards and honors and his MFA thesis film “Pink Triangle” is in the permanent collection at the New York Public Library.
Doucette has worn many titles as an artist from set designer to animator and has a wide variety of interests. What started as a career in puppetry segued into a doll-making hobby. His Ben Franklin doll, created for the White House Christmas tree in 1999, is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian. Many of his dolls are in the private collection of Demi Moore and have been featured in magazines articles, TV programs and sold in galleries.
Currently Doucette is fulfilling his lifelong ambition to be a full-time painter and is enjoying the opportunity to create something of his own like murals in his community.
Doucette was born in Waterville, Maine, educated at Rhode Island School of Design, and has a master’s degree in animation from Cal ARTS. Doucette now lives in Peoria, Illinois, with his husband, Tom.
