Doug St. Denis: Creating Harmony Through Art

By KAREN SCANLON, Coronado Historical Association Volunteer

It’s a colorful welcome at the home of Coronado resident Doug St. Denis.

From the eclectic ambiance to the bright, let-it-all-go expression on her face, this artist, actor, and architect seems pleased you have arrived.

It’s as though Doug has applied fine art to every area of her life. She might tell you that art is eternal and art is the present. Doug’s stream of contributions to the City of Coronado is remarkable. Having served on the Design Review, Historic Resource, and Planning Commissions to co-founding (with Heidi Wilson) the Coronado Cultural Arts Commission, Doug only whet her appetite for more.

Born at Mercy Hospital in 1938, Douglas Howard Mustin (named for her great uncle) joined her Naval officer dad, her mom, and big brother Hank in a tiny rented cottage on C Avenue, which, miraculously, is still standing. Her brother Tom came later.

Soon after, the family moved to Boston, where her father attended post-graduate school at MIT. “We kept coming back to Coronado, but we were never anywhere long enough to have our name in the phone book,” she chuckles.

The family moved up and down the West and East Coasts while her father served in the U.S. Navy as a surface officer. (He retired as Vice Admiral.) As a result, Doug attended schools in many places, including Coronado’s Sacred Heart, when it was brand new.

“I was partly raised here,” Doug says. “It was like growing up in a TV series about the perfect life. We roller-skated all over the place, rode our bikes, played baseball in vacant lots (yes, Coronado had vacant lots!), and stayed out until dark. It was a wonderful town.

“After the Village Theater opened, we went to the movie every Saturday. I had my first ‘date’ there,” Doug remembers. “My mom gave me a quarter in case he didn’t plan to pay my way. He did.”

The girls in seventh grade were fearful of their first school dance lest they remain wallflowers. “Back then, you had to wait on the sidelines, just praying a boy would ask you to dance! It was brutal!” Alas, her friend John McCain to the rescue! “When he danced with me, he said, ‘Try doing it on your toes.’ Good advice.”

When her dad got orders back to Coronado, Doug remained in Alexandria, Virginia, to attend boarding school at St. Agnes School for Girls (now the co-ed St Agnes and St. Stephens) for her senior year. “I loved it! I learned early on to appreciate my big, inclusive family and the lifelong friendships I’ve made along the way. Six generations of Navy.”

A young bride at 17, Doug moved to Pensacola, FL, for her husband’s Navy pilot training. “We had three great kids—two daughters and a son in the middle. Lucky for them, they mostly grew up in Coronado. Hard to imagine today, but when they were little, they walked to school without an adult, maybe six blocks, and had to cross Orange Avenue.” At home, Doug was drawing and painting — oil her preferred medium.

“I loved the ferry! You had to time it just right, especially on a Friday. Get in a line that reached all the way to 5th Street. I was commuting to acting jobs in LA and had enough time to put on a coat of nail polish.”

Doug lived on the island when the San Diego-Coronado Bridge opened on August 3, 1969, and crossed that night coming in from Los Angeles. She was handed a commemorative plaque, which she might still have.

At 40, Doug married architect and artist Dale St. Denis. At age 51, she risked age and boldly applied to the New School of Architecture across the bridge. Five years on the Dean’s list, she concludes that education is wasted on the young. She graduated in 1994 and joined Dale at St. Denis & Assoc. Architects. “Those were such great days.” Dale died in 2016 after 40 years together.

In 2014, this resident artist founded the highly recognized Coronado Island Film Festival, which grew out of the Coronado Cultural Arts Commission. Now in its ninth year, CIFF is a favorite of locals and visitors alike, offering year-round film-related events, culminating in November with a grand five-day festival of 100 or more films, parties, panels, workshops, master labs, awards ceremonies, and a signature red-carpet event, The Leonard Maltin Industry Tribute Gala in the Hotel Del Crown Room, where Leonard personally interviews selected industry notables who are honored each year. “This town is just booming for five jam-packed days!” says Doug. “The day after our festival closes, we start to work on the next one! We have an amazing board, staff, and about 100 treasured volunteers, and we have a blast!”

Time out for other interests, “I love my church [Coronado Community] and being really involved with our Rotary Club.”

Doug’s gaze shifts as she ponders her 85 years. A mother’s wisdom. Coronado’s first stoplight in the middle of the block on 6th Street. The scary moment her son had a snowboard accident. Engaging in the arts, earning honors. Christening a ship bearing the family name. Traveling to Paris 14 times with Dale, sketchbooks in hand. Dancing in the park in summer. Grandchildren. A life so full. “And then there’s beautiful, magical Coronado; home.”