Former Disney executive next up in Alumni Lecture Series

Youngstown State University alum Larry Davis, who had decades-long successful creative career at the Walt Disney Co., presents the next Alumni Lecture Series program 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, on the Alumni Engagement Facebook page.

The lecture is titled “How YSU Faculty Helped Shape My Career Trajectory” and will focus on Davis’ career in sculpture and with Disney that culminated with his position as the executive producer and creative director for the Main Entrance of Shanghai Disneyland.

A native of Salem, Ohio, Davis began his academic career in 1970 as a Biology major at YSU before picking up a paint brush. He earned a bachelor of Fine Arts from YSU in 1976 and seven years later a master of Fine Arts at California State University in Long Beach, with a major in sculpture. 

In 1980, while still a graduate student, Davis began a decades-long career with the Walt Disney Co., holding numerous positions in a variety of creative roles. 

From 1986 to 1991, Davis stepped away from Disney to pursue his own design firm, Larry A. Designs in Los Angeles. During that time, he had significant success, working in the entertainment industry as well as continuing to create art. He was represented by two Los Angeles art galleries, Piezo Electric and The Brendan Walter Gallery, and was included in group shows at several other LA-based galleries as well as the Holly Solomon Gallery in New York. 

Upon returning to Disney, Davis continued creating and exhibiting his own art for a number of years, including a commission from Linane/Drews Architects for a 17-foot-tall outdoor sculpture in Burbank and shows at Cache Contemporary Gallery in Los Angeles, Stroke and Structure Gallery in Pasadena, Gallery 114 in Portland, Ore., and the MorYork Gallery in Highland Park, Calif. 

The last leg of his Disney career was with Walt Disney Imagineering, the division responsible for developing and executing Disney theme parks around the world. Throughout his career, Davis traveled the world for Disney, with involvement in places like Paris, Tokyo, London and Rome. In 2016, he retired from Walt Disney Imagineering as executive producer and creative director, for the Shanghai Disneyland Main Entrance. During this role, after traveling back-and-forth to China for several years of development, he relocated to Shanghai for the entire construction phase of the project. 

For more information on the lecture, email habelgin@ysu.edu.