Sunset Artist Doug Gorney Dies At 63

Well-loved west side artist Doug Gorney died at 63.

The artist, who grew up in Telegraph Hill in North Beach with his siblings Cynthia and Mark, found a home in the Sunset district after traveling across the country. There he would go on to hone in on his craft of urban watercolor paintings and sketches of the city and founded the artist community, the Sunset Sketchers, in 2018.

He died on Nov. 19 due to a heart attack at the Balboa Park BART station where, BART’s Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost said, first responders, despite life-saving measures, declared him deceased at the scene.

“He was a kind and wonderful human being that everyone loved,” Mark Gorney said.

On his artistic journey, Gorney studied art at various colleges like Wesleyan University, the University of California, Berkeley and finished his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago with a focus on sculpture.

Prior to going back to art, he was a teacher and practitioner of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s transcendental meditation method, a corporate and business writer and editor and was continuously learning new methods and crafts.

Many described Gorney as a pillar in the community where he was a positive, kind-hearted and talented individual who made long-lasting friends wherever he went.

“Doug was enthusiastic,” said Thomas Beutel, a friend to Gorney and an artist. “He was one of those people who never dwelled on the negative. He acknowledged that it existed but he could always put a positive spin on things and focus on what’s possible. For me, that’s why he was so inspiring.”

Gorney’s family and over 100 of his friends and colleagues held a celebration of life for him on Nov. 30 at the Swedenborgian Center. His brother Mark also said Doug’s close friend had organized a traditional Vedic Ceremony in India where several hundred Vedic Pandits will chant for multiple days on Gorney’s behalf.

In addition, District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio at the request of the executive director of the Western Neighborhood Project and members of the B0ardside Collective will also submit Gorney in the in-memoriam segment at the next Board of Supervisors meeting.

“Even when things were really tough, he maintained this general aura of great humor and patience and interest in other people and listening to other people,” Cynthia Gorney said. “The Sketchers told me over and over how incredibly supportive he was, regardless of their particular level of artistic gift. He had this completely wide-ranging crazy curiosity about all kinds of things and that came across in his interactions with people.”