Doug Hyde was born in 1946 in Hermiston, Oregon of Native American descent - Nez Perce, Assiniboine and Chippewa.  Doug’s work is influenced by the Indian lore he learned as a youth from his grandfather, who was called “Judge” because of his wisdom, and from other elders.  Through legends of animal characters they taught the morals of the people, the ways of Mother Earth, and how human beings came to be.  Today, Doug expresses the Indian mythology and spirit through his sculpture.

Doug grew up in Idaho and at the age of seventeen came to Santa Fe.  He attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from 1963 to 1966. In 1967 Doug attended the San Francisco Art Institute on scholarship for a time before enlisting in the U.S. Army and completed two combat tours.  While working in a friend’s memorial business he learned the use of power tools in the cutting and shaping of stone, all the while continuing his art education.  He returned to Santa Fe in 1972 to teach at the Institute of American Indian Arts, bringing with him experience and knowledge as well as a desire to learn all he could about the other native cultures.  He also brought with him the ability to capture a vision and transform it into a three-dimensional image.  Doug was a member of the Institute of American Indian Art’s faculty until 1974 when he decided to devote himself fully to his art. “My work is about combining the stone and the ideas - feeling what is hidden in the stone and releasing the energy within – to tell the Native American story:  the people, their legends, dance, and social interactions.” Doug is highly sought after and is in many well-known permanent collections, he has won many prestigious awards.  He moved to Prescott, AZ in 2004, sculpting in stone and bronze remains the focus of his life.

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