Thomas Doty – Storyteller

Programs & Projects

Photo.

Programs

  • Over 14,000 programs for diverse audiences and organizations, 1981-present.
  • Father-Daughter programs with Irina Doty, 1988-2001.
  • Statewide Oregon Arts in Education Program, 1981-1990.

Projects

  • Reading the Rocks.
    Since 1986, co-director and co-founder with Roy Phillips of Burns, Oregon. Interpretation, preservation and perpetuation of native pictographs and petroglyphs.
  • Dragonfly Place.
    When he's not on the road, Thomas Doty makes his home at Dragonfly Place in the Siskiyou Mountains near Ashland, Oregon. Dragonfly Place houses Doty's Archives.
  • CIRCLE.
    Doty currently serves on the international Board of Directors of CIRCLE, the Centre for Indigenous Research, Culture, Language and Education located at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Doty & Coyote Stories.
    Doty's series of original native stories continues to grow. New titles are added frequently to Doty's online Library.
  • Peace Wall.
    Designed a native tile for the Peace Wall in downtown Ashland, Oregon. The tile uses traditional rock writing symbols to portray the message, "From Conflict and War to Peace and Healing. The wall was dedicated in September, 2010.
  • Takelma Language Project.
    Native language research with John Michael Greer and Dr. John Medicine Horse Kelly, 2006-2009.
  • Bear Rock.
    Doty provided cultural information to members of the native community so that Bear Rock could be moved back to its original location on Lower Table Rock in southern Oregon. Bear Rock is sacred to the Takelma people. He is an image of Great Bear in the Sky who perpetuates the seasons with his circle dance. Bear Rock was put "back in balance" on May 16, 2009. A native ceremony accompanied the event.
  • Medicine Rock Project.
    During the summer and fall of 2008, Thomas Doty and Roy Phillips worked with Jan Wright, Director of the Talent Historical Society, and Desi Brown of Desiesque Designs and Ken Brown Construction, to create the Medicine Rock Exhibit, patterned after a portion of the Medicine Rock site. The new rock is located at the entrance to the society's museum in Talent, Oregon. The Meyer Memorial Trust funded the project which includes the rock replica, an accompanying exhibit of photos and text, a new story about Medicine Rock by Doty and a public presentation on rock writings by Phillips. The exhibit was dedicated on October 18, 2008.
  • Eme'tek!iyikíkh (We Are Here).
    Featured speaker and on the planning committee for native sculpture installed in downtown Ashland, Oregon, September, 2006.
  • Native Story Theatre.
    As Storyteller in Residence at The High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, Doty directed the museum's Teen Drama Troupe in productions of his native plays. 2002-2003.
  • Two Sisters, Two Brothers, and a Journey.
    Doty directed the premiere of his first full length play that opened November 15, 2001 at the Rose Street Theater in Phoenix, Oregon.
  • Martin Luther King Day.
    1990-1995 & 2001, performer and assistant stage manager for Ashland's annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration, sponsored by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the City of Ashland, the Ashland School District and Southern Oregon University.
  • Ribs of the Animal: Stories from the Rogue River.
    Summer project with Irina Doty, composer Paul Nash, playwright and director Joshua Heuertz in association with the Italian Futurist Theater Co. of Ashland, Oregon. Created and produced a storytelling and theater performance that opened in October, 1999.
  • Water Under the Bridge.
    Co-produced with Dorothy Ormes. Performances of storytelling and music to benefit the restoration of Lithia Park after the 1997 flood in Ashland, Oregon.
  • Dancing Through Dreamtime: Storytelling & Dance Inspired by NW Myths.
    Seven week summer projects sponsored by the University of Minnesota and Southern Oregon University, 1992 (in OR), 1993 (in OR) and 1995 (in MN). Doty was co-director, writer and performer with choreographer Marge Maddux, storyteller and dancer Irina Doty, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Minnesota dancers.
  • The International Folklore Project.
    Co-director and co-founder with Tish McFadden. Produced 120 living folklore concerts of storytelling and music, in cooperation with Northwest Nature Shop of Ashland, Oregon, 1994-1997.
  • Daedalus Project.
    Performances at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Daedalus Project, a benefit for AIDS patients, 1992-1995.
  • Academy.
    Helped start the Academy Program for Talented and Gifted Students at Southern Oregon University in 1981, and has performed and taught several summers with the program.