Andy MacDougall was born in Woodstock Ont., and migrated west after seeing the ocean and the mountains in his teens. The Comox Valley has been ‘home base’ since the 70’s with his work taking him all over, but the magic of the place always bringing him back.
Currently a resident of Royston, he splits time between a number of interests and upcoming or ongoing projects, most revolving around screenprinting, writing, and teaching, or combinations thereof. A member of SGIA (Specialty Graphic Imaging Association) API (American Poster Institute) and elected to the ASPT (Academy of Screen Printing Technology) in 2007, he was also one of the founders of the Comox Valley Home Based Business Association. His book, Screenprinting Today, the Basics, published by ST Media in Cincinatti, OH, is now in its 4th printing. He is currently working with author Guido Lengwiler of Switzerland on a 500 page fully illustrated History of Screenprinting.
Your thoughts on the Arts
What the Arts mean in my life/To my company?
My business and life and cultural activities have always been intertwined, one thing leading to another, all connected by the creative spark and the desire to make something where nothing existed before. I’ve never been big on academic distinctions between the arts – I see it more as one big ball, and within the network of people I work with, fine artists and graphic designers, musicians and writers, advertising execs and teachers, students and workers – they all exercise creativity.
The biggest mistake we can make is to compartmentalize ‘the Arts’, to assume it is only a small cadre of people who are capital A artists, and to drill it into our young people and society that somehow we must put away that desire to draw or play an instrument or act or write or let our imaginations soar when we become adults. You give 25 pre-schoolers a piece of paper and crayons, they all know exactly what to do. We need that same fearless creativity in business and life.
How am I involved in the arts in the Valley?
As a musician, I played in a bunch of bands, including Frank Further’s 3-bit Band, Roadside Distraction, the Rude Boys, and the Valiants. I was the marketing director of Musicfest from ’97 until 2002, worked with CVAG and the City of Courtenay to create the new art gallery, created and ran ‘The Final Act’ fundraising program for the Sid Williams Theatre for 3 years, and donated artwork for fundraising programs for many groups and organizations.
I helped set up a screenprinting program at Vanier, and assisted NIC, UVIC, TRU, and a number of colleges and universities in the USA to upgrade their printmaking departments with more modern equipment.
We run classes for screenprinting from our Squeegeeville studio, and draw students from across North America and as far away as China. Many of our students have gone on to create successful careers and businesses based around screenprinting.