Doug Kyes Keeps Art Alive in Renton schools

When I first got to know Doug Kyes, at least nine years ago, we were mentors at the same school — Renton Park Elementary School. We showed up on the same day and time. Our kids were even in the same classroom on mentoring day. My girl and I played games and on the monkey bars. But every week, Doug and his young man worked on the most elaborate art projects.

This was a kid that struggled to stay in school, and had a challenging home life, but you could see him come alive under Doug’s most patient tutelage.

The art projects Kyes’ boy painted were wild, which seemed to delight Doug in them even more.

“He’s got a unique perspective,” Kyes would say at the time. Nothing was too weird or out of bounds for Kyes when his mentee was creating.

Over the years, he's has mentored, coached and helped many a Renton child with art projects, through . So, it is no surprise that Dr. Mary Alice Heuschel nominated him for a Community Recognition Award for keeping art alive in Renton schools.

A regular volunteer at , where he also helped the third-grade students create  the , entitled 'The Eagle Project.' The mural was designed to showcase the diversity of the school and the district. Much of the intricacies of designing the mural were done on Kyes' own time at home.

Walk the halls of Sierra Heights Elementary and every student greets him. 

“Many of them just need a grandpa,” he said. 

He spins story after story of the kids he’s helped with artwork, tutoring, mentoring and providing life skills for students that need them. One student had the notion that he could skip school and fail classes, but could go to college because of a rich relative.

“No,” Kyes told him. “You have to get good grades to go to college.”

He’s currently working on two impressive projects with the students at Sierra Heights. One, is a 3-D wood project for Miss Unti’s fourth-grade classroom, and the other is “Hands On Sick Babies” quilt for the , in Kent, which helps babies born addicted to drugs. He’s working with the first-grade class on this project.

For the quilt, each child draws their own handprint on a fabric square with their name on it. Each square is being sewn into a quilt by local quilter, Mary Jane Price, that will be presented to the center after it is “officially unveiled” to the public. , make a big deal for the kids when a project is finished. They make a ceremony of the unveiling and celebrate with cookies and juice.

The third grader he is tutoring on reading this year also works on art projects with Kyes.

“She’s really a pretty good reader,” he said. “So we work a lot on art, too.”

Kyes is also a docent at Sierra Heights, every other week, teaching fine arts.

Doug is talking about a project for next year — and he’s always talking about the next project — which will possibly use dinosaurs with the first graders.

His own artwork is incredibly impressive. The works reflect his world travels on humanitarian projects and with .  He’s given injections to babies on the Rotary quest to end polio worldwide, travelled to Belize to help the poor build and lived in grass huts while doing so, travelled to Nepal, ridden camels and elephants, to name just a few of his colorful trips.

Throughout his home, and the community, you’ll find his work. He operates in “just about any medium,” Kyes said. He does sculpture, ceramics, clay, oil and watercolors.

“I like to teach the kids the discipline of drawing, " he said, "and we have so much fun doing it.”

A large art piece graces the lobby of , and recently he painted the Henry Moses Mural, in honor of , which will grace the halls of .

Kyes is in the planning stages of an fun sculpture project through the Renton Arts Commission for the South Renton Neighborhood project. It is called the 4-cows wide tunnel bridge.

He showed me the antimated, smiling cow sketches and this project is sure to bring a smile and delight to neighbors entering South Renton. There are 4-cows playing bridge, which will be turned into playing cards, and also the human-size sculpture of the cows. There will be an empty chair next to the three cows where you can pose for a picture.

Kyes is working with the City and Allied Arts of Renton on the five-year arts and culture master plan. He envisions an art center in the community where you can learn many different art disciplines like woodcarving, fabric arts, spinning, clay and sculpture.

In the nomination for Kyes’ award, a teacher wrote, “Doug is an invaluable part of my classroom, and a true friend. My students adore him. He is a mentor, art docent, friend and companion to the students in my classroom.”

Principal Nanci Davis said, “We are blessed in Renton to have a community leader that cares and gives back in so many ways.”

His fourth-grade students put together a “Thank You Book,” for him, and each wrote a message congratulating him on his award.

“Thank you for coming, Mr. Kyes, so I didn’t have to do math,” one student said.

And, one summed up the feelings of the entire class.

“You rock Mr. K!”