Douglas Aja
United States
Douglas Aja has been sculpting African wildlife since the late 1990s. Since that time he donates a portion of the sales proceeds to various conservation organizations as well as donates sculptures for fund raising events. Though he sculpts a variety of species, he specializes in the African elephant. Many elephants are known individuals from Amboseli National Park in Kenya. He has been a longtime supporter of Amboseli Trust for Elephants (ATE), ElephantVoices and The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT). Recently he has begun supporting Action for Cheetahs in Kenya (ACK) and Laikipia Wildlife Forum (LWF). Aja's bronze sculptures are in the private collections of elephant researchers Cynthia Moss and Joyce Poole, wildlife cinematographer Martyn Colbeck, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, the Bennington Center for the Arts and NBA great and Basketball Hall of Famer Sam Jones.
Traveling to Africa for the first time in 1978, Doug took part in a wilderness education program with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). There he studied wilderness and mountaineering skills, outdoor leadership, minimum impact camping and Kenya's culture. He continues to visit East Africa regularly to take photos, gather reference material and to further his knowledge and understanding of his subjects. He often backpacks on Mount Kenya, through Maasailand and has climbed Kilimanjaro.
Artists Affiliations
Signature Member: Society of Animal Artists, Signature Member: Artists for Conservation,
Elected Member: National Sculpture Society, Fellow: The American Artists Professional League,
Elected Member: Allied Artists of America, The Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, D.C.
Selected Shows and Awards
Society of Animal Artists Annual Members Exhibition: Art and the Animal: 2008, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019. : The Marilyn Newmark Memorial Award for Realistic Sculpture 2014. Award of Excellence 2017
Artists for Conservation: The Art of Conservation Exhibition: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019. Wildscape Award, Editor’s Choice Runner-up. Medal of Excellence 2016. Conservation Artist of the Month for January, 2017
National Sculpture Society: Annual Awards Exhibition 2012, 2017, 2020 Performance in Sculpture exhibition at the David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Florida 2013-2015, 2017-2019, 2019-2021
Bennington Center for the Arts: Art of the Animal Kingdom: 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015. Wildscapes: 2016, 2017. Laumeister Fine Art Competition: 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017. Collective Members’ Show 2017
American Artists Professional League: Grand National Exhibition: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. , Frank C. Wright Medal of Honor 2014, Kathryn Thayer Hobson Award 2016, Blick Art Award 2017
Allied Artists of America: Annual Exhibition 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.
Elliot Liskin Memorial Award 2015
Academic Artists Association: Annual National Exhibition of Traditional Realism 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. Academic Artists Excellence Award 2016, Materials Award 2018, Merit Award 2019
Audubon Artists: Annual Exhibition: 2017, 2018, 2019. Council of American Artist Societies Traditional Figurative Gold Award 2017
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:Commemorative Coin Competition 2019, Finalist
Wildscape Magazine: Winner, Professional Category & Wildlife Artist of the Year 2011:
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 15th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
