Doris "Doc" Leeper (April 4, 1929 – April 11, 2000) was an American sculptor and painter from

New Smyrna Beach New Smyrna Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States, located on the central east coast of the state, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Its population is 30,142 in 2020 by the United States Census Bureau. The downtown section o ...

, Florida. She was instrumental in the creation of the

Canaveral National Seashore The Canaveral National Seashore (CANA) is a National Seashore located between New Smyrna Beach and Titusville, Florida, in Volusia and Brevard Counties. The park, located on a barrier island, was created on January 3, 1975, by an act of Congress. ...

in 1975, and the Spruce Creek Preserve, renamed the Doris Leeper Spruce Creek Preserve in memoriam. She founded the

Atlantic Center for the Arts Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) is a nonprofit, interdisciplinary artists’ community and arts education facility providing artists an opportunity to work and collaborate with contemporary artists in the fields of composing, visual, litera ...

in 1982. She was inducted into the

Florida Artists Hall of Fame Florida Artists Hall of Fame recognizes artists who have made significant contributions to art in Florida. It was established by the Florida Legislature in 1986. There is a Florida Artists Hall of Fame Wall on the Plaza Level in the rotunda of the ...

in 1999. Leeper was born on April 4, 1929, in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. She attended

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

, originally intending to become a

brain surgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the Human ...

– the origin of her nickname "Doc." She eventually graduated in 1951 with a degree in

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

. In 1958, while working in the field of commercial art, she moved to the small community of

Eldora, Florida Eldora is an uninhabited place in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It is located within Canaveral National Seashore, south of Bethune Beach and west of County Road A1A. The average elevation is 3 feet above sea level. History Eldora was a ...

, situated on a

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of Dune, dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything fro ...

between New Smyrna Beach and

Titusville, Florida Titusville is a city in eastern Florida and the county seat of Brevard County, Florida, United States. The city's population was 43,761 as of the 2010 United States Census. Titusville is located along the Indian River (Florida), Indian River, west ...

. As a result of her presence there, Leeper became increasingly interested in environmental preservation.Moore, Roger
"Doris Leeper Was A 'Force For The Arts': The Atlantic Center For The Arts Was Among The Volusia Woman's Many Creations,"
''Orlando Sentinel'' (April 12, 2000). By 1961, she had become a full-time artist, specializing in painting and sculpture. Her work is in over 100 collections in the U.S. and abroad. By the early 1970s, Leeper was a well-known figure in the Florida

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...

, and was instrumental in the 1975 creation of the

(CANA), which encompassed the island on which Eldora was located. In 1975 she founded Friends of Canaveral and appointed to the Canaveral National Seashore Advisory Commission where she pushed for wilderness protection for the seashore. Leeper conceived of the

in 1977, envisioning it as a Florida artist-in-residence program in which artists of all disciplines could work with current prominent artists in a supportive and creative environment. Leeper saw the potential for an artist's residency as a place for ideas to be created, shared, and come into fruition. She soon persuaded friends and community members to join in her vision. In 1979, she convinced the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

to provide a challenge grant that soon was matched. This $25,000 in seed money was the unofficial inception of the ACA. When a prime piece of property became available on the shores of Turnbull Bay, a tidal estuary west of New Smyrna Beach, Leeper raised the $50,000 necessary to buy the ten-acre plot. Three years later, five main buildings were completed. Over the years, five more buildings were constructed and an additional 59 acres were purchased as preserve land. The ACA officially opened in 1982 for the first residency with author

James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet and novelist. He was appointed the eighteenth United States Poet Laureate in 1966. He also received the Order of the South award. Dickey is best known for his no ...

, sculptor

Duane Hanson Duane Hanson (January 17, 1925 – January 6, 1996) was an American artist and sculptor born in Minnesota. He spent most of his career in South Florida. He was known for his life-sized realistic sculptures of people. He cast the works based o ...

, and composer

David Del Tredici David Walter Del Tredici (born March 16, 1937) is an American composer. He has won a Pulitzer Prize for Music and is a former Guggenheim and Woodrow Wilson fellow. Del Tredici is considered a pioneer of the Neo-Romantic movement. He has also bee ...

. Since then, over 155 interdisciplinary residencies have taken place, featuring over 430 Master Artists and over 3,500 Associate Artists from around the world. Leeper was awarded honorary doctorates from Duke and from

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I–4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus in DeLand. The university was founded in 1883 and was later established in 1887 ...

. She was named Florida ambassador of the arts, and inducted into the Florida Hall of Fame in 1999. A 45-year retrospective of her work was held at

Cornell Fine Arts Museum The Rollins Museum of Art is located on the Winter Park campus of Rollins College and is the only teaching museum in the greater Orlando area. The museum houses more than 5,000 objects ranging from antiquity through contemporary eras, including ...

in 1995. She died April 11, 2000 as the last resident of Eldora. After her death, the management of the town was officially turned over to the federal government, as the town is located more than two miles within the borders of the

. The town claims no permanent residents and visitation is limited and subject to park hours. Only two of its original buildings remain. In 2020, Leeper's house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Quotes

References

External links

Lee Corbino Galleries – Doris Leeper Museums and Public CollectionsDoris Leeper Papers, University of Central Florida
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeper, Doris Doc 1929 births 2000 deaths Duke University alumni People from Volusia County, Florida 20th-century American painters 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women artists Artists from Charlotte, North Carolina People from New Smyrna Beach, Florida Sculptors from North Carolina