Duke Windsor

Duke Windsor was born in Texarkana, Texas and served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a radio operator, combat illustrator and drill instructor. After leaving the service, Windsor was a freelance illustrator and amateur rodeo cowboy, competing in bull-riding, bareback and steer wrestling events. He subsequently studied classical voice at San Diego State University and performed professionally with the San Diego Opera Chorus. Windsor holds the rank of 4th Degree Black Belt in Kempo martial arts, and he continues to be an active singer-songwriter, guitar player and solo performer.

Windsor has over 15 years of museum exhibition design and installation experience; he has worked for the San Diego Museum of Art, the San Diego Museum of Man, the San Diego Natural History Museum, the San Diego History Center and Mingei International Museum. Windsor served for seven years as founding Director of Exhibits at the USS Midway Museum. Currently, Windsor is CAD Design Engineering Manager at Full Swing Golf Simulators, headquartered in Carlsbad, California.

Windsor is an Associate Artist of the California Art Club, and a former board member with A.R.T.S., A Reason to Survive, which empowers troubled youth through the arts. He is also former Education Chair of the San Diego Museum of Art Artist Guild. Windsor has also served as a member of the Public Arts Selection Committee for the San Diego Regional Airport Authority Art Program.

Windsor has taught art at many venues including the San Diego Museum of Art and the Athenaeum, and he is currently an instructor of drawing and painting at Art on 30th Street; he also offers a wide range of artist development workshops throughout San Diego County. Windsor’s award-winning paintings have been exhibited at juried solo shows, festivals, group exhibitions and corporate venues in San Diego, Southern California and throughout the U.S., and they are held in private collections throughout the U.S. and Europe. He has also produced portrait commissions and military historical works. Windsor works in various media including pastel, oil, acrylic, watercolor and block print, and his artistic scope ranges from plein air to abstract.

In the Press

How artist Duke Windsor found creative riches in the streets of San Diego

San Diego Union Tribune

December 2019

In Windsor’s new solo show at the Sparks Gallery in the Gaslamp Quarter, the 59-year-old artist gives the streets we know the lightest dusting of magic. He gives us everyday San Diego scenes that glow with new possibility. The show is called “Radiance,” and by illuminating the ordinary, Windsor’s art shows us what is extraordinary about the artist.