Baker Artist Portfolios

Jim Doran is a Baltimore-based animator and visual artist whose work draws on decades of exploration in visual art, experimental music, film, and digital technology. He holds a BA in music composition from Washington College and an MFA in studio art from Towson University. His artistic practice moves between gallery exhibitions, performances, and experimental video.

Rather than abandoning earlier disciplines, Doran brings them together in animation. He writes and directs his own films, independently handling every aspect of production, from narrative and visual development to animation, editing, original scores, and sound design. He also uses computer programming as a creative tool, constructing scenes in Blender with Python, animating screens with JavaScript, and building functioning websites for fictional businesses.

Since 2020, Doran has completed 14 animated short films. His films have screened at the Maryland Film Festival and Artscape, as well as internationally in Portugal, Canada, and the UK. He has received Best Animation awards at the Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival, the MAC Film Festival, and Italy's Hermetic International Film Festival. His visual artwork has appeared in numerous exhibitions, including two at the American Visionary Art Museum: The Art of Storytelling and The Great Mystery Show.

He has received an Independent Artist Award and a Creativity Grant from the Maryland State Arts Council and is a 2026–2027 Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund fellow.