Jacob Dugas said one of the biggest rewards as an art educator is watching his students accomplish great things once they finish school.

The 33-year-old Lake Charles native has been the head of the drawing department at McNeese State University and over part of the print department since 2017.

Dugas earned his bachelor’s degree from McNeese in visual arts, with a concentration in graphic design and printmaking. He attended South Dakota University in 2013, earning a master’s degree in printmaking in 2016.

After returning home from South Dakota, Dugas worked in construction for a contractor at Axiall, which is now Lotte Chemical. He said construction was his first job in his younger years, and his father and uncles worked in the same career field.

“I was swinging sledgehammers, pouring concrete and sweating in 100-degree weather,” he said of the Axiall job. “It was important to my family to learn a trade so I would never be a one trick pony. I understand as an adult to have options, as far as a career.”

Despite working in construction, Dugas said he made sure McNeese had his information, including his resume and letter of intent. While at Axiall, McNeese staff called him about a part-time job in the art department.

“Someone had retired, and the university said, ‘Hey, we need you,’ ” he said. “I took a pay cut to have a foot in the door.”

Dugas took the part-time job in the spring 2017 and continued to work at Axiall. When a full-time position opened up at the university in the fall of 2017, Dugas applied and was hired following a national search by McNeese faculty and staff.

Dugas teaches beginner, intermediate and advanced drawing, which includes both traditional and experimental techniques. He also teaches relief and Intaglio printmaking, which includes mainly metal etching, dry-point and engraving.

Dugas said his interest in printmaking came from his mother, Gwendolyn, who spent years working as an advertising and sales manager at the American Press. While in high school, he shadowed current American Press Design Editor Donna Price and retired graphic artist Ronald Gibson.

“I loved it,” he said. “I thought it was the coolest thing ever.”

The range of possibilities that printmaking offers also attracted Dugas. He said the work is very similar to construction.

“It’s very hands-on,” he said. “It’s a very physical process, depending on what you’re doing. I like larger-scale prints that bring pain to the hands and shoulders. I liked that it was gritty and difficult.”

As an educator, Dugas said he values the variety of people he interacts with daily and hearing stories from students.

“I’m a sucker for narrative,” he said. “To hear what they’ve gone through keeps things in perspective, and I can help them use that in their artwork. Hundreds of people come through my door, and to have a little speck on their journey is fun to think of, long-term. They are going to do fantastic things, and hopefully I was part of that.”

Dugas said he enjoys how well the art community works together, inside and outside of McNeese.

“As different as we are, even if we don’t agree, we’ll make it work,” he said.

After finishing graduate school, Dugas said he and his wife, Meghan, talked about where they wanted to live. Meghan’s family is from Missouri. They eventually settled on Lake Charles, and one of the big reasons was the quality of the people.

“People, in general, care here,” he said. “They care about the culture, the festivities and each other. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve seen of someone helping a person whose car broke down, or someone who offered help to someone who was sad. That doesn’t happen everywhere.”

Dugas said it’s hard to pinpoint what makes the local community so unique. Despite enduring several natural disasters over the last two years, the community hasn’t given up.

“We’ve had bad things happen,” he said. “People leave, but they keep coming back here like I did. I’m not the only one.”