Dave Laubenthal
I make work where art meets structure—where story meets engineering—where material remembers place.
My background spans large-scale theatrical spectacle and intimate, site-responsive sculpture. I’ve sculpted masks and puppets with Michael Curry Design for productions including The Lion King on Broadway, Cirque du Soleil, the 2000 Super Bowl Halftime Show, and the 2002 Winter Olympics. These experiences taught me how to realize ambitious ideas through collaboration, technical precision, and disciplined execution.
I founded DJL Studio in 2001, completing public art commissions throughout Oregon while leading teams in custom furniture and lighting design. My practice has since grown toward work that honors landscape, ecology, and community—often through large-scale wooden forms that carry both structural logic and symbolic weight. Along the way I have taught various design courses at local colleges.
I bring strategic vision, fabrication expertise, and collaborative leadership to every commission. My work integrates artistic intent with structural intelligence—ensuring ideas are not only compelling, but buildable and durable. The strongest work, I believe, emerges at the threshold between disciplines. Between art and engineering. Between concept and craft. Between people and place.
If you are imagining something bold, site-specific, and built to last, I would welcome the conversation.
Achievements
Dave received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from Arizona State University and a Master of Fine Arts in Collaborative Design from the Pacific Northwest College of Art.
He has served on multiple advisory boards including Design Museum Portland, and the Oregon Advisory Team for Creating Connection, a national movement to make arts and culture a recognized, valued, and expected part of everyday life.
In 2014, Dave launched Design Museum Portland, a creative non-profit museum focusing on design and design education in Portland, Oregon.
Dave has also served on the grant selection committee for Regional Arts and Culture Council in Portland, Oregon where he helped select artists for public art commissions.
Awards
2017 SEDG Merit Award, “Lenses On The Sky.” OMSI in collaboration with Plus & Greater Than
2013 (International juried exhibition) The Noble Architect, First Place- PUBLIC PröJECT, Silver City Clay Festival, Silver City, NM
2012 Juror Award – Conformation Series. SHOWpdx, Design Biennial Portland, OR
2011 Statewide Design Team Roster, Regional Arts and Culture Council and Oregon Arts Commission
2011 International Dieline Award - Best of Show 2011 Shoe Package Design (Brooks Pure Project) in collaboration with the Great Society
2010 National Juror Award - “Gropius” Luminous Layers, Annual encaustic painting exhibition. Lake Oswego Center for the Arts, Lake Oswego, OR
2008 Rising Star, Root Award - Portland Spaces Design Award celebrating“Innovation, creativity and craftsmanship”, PDX, OR