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IMAGE COURTESY OF ARTIST

DR. Nettie Asburry: wife, mother, educator, and founder of the Tacoma NAACP

Tacoma artist exposes Washington’s rich African American history

By Matt Nagle

Early Washington state history includes a wealth of important contributions from African Americans, yet the legacy of many of these pioneering men and women continues to remain virtually hidden in the annals of time. How many of us learned in school about such notable figures as William Owen Bush, the first and only African American in the 1889 Washington state legislative assembly and a founder of Washington State University; or his father, George Washington Bush, the first black settler in Washington and a founding father of the state?

Tacoma artist Dionne Bonner has taken up the gauntlet to help shed some light on this hidden past. On Aug. 16, an exhibit of her works will open at the Tacoma campus of Evergreen State College titled “Exposed: The Unique History of African American Pioneers.” Made up of 13 portraits painted in oil on big 36x48-inch canvases, these images are larger than life, reflecting the subjects whose faces Bonner lovingly recreated by first learning about each individual she painted. Each image is accompanied by a short written biography that traces their unique history, from slavery to the civil rights movement.

“I felt they were regal, and I treated their portraits in that way,” Bonner said. “I don’t think I could paint a portrait without knowing more about the person. It really helps me bring them to life on canvas.”

She launched into the project in 1994 upon a commission from the African American Museum of Tacoma, and worked closely with its historian to research her subjects. She found a lot of pertinent information at www.blackpast.org. Once completed the collection toured the state including a showing at the Washington State History Museum. Since then she has added one more portrait, that of prominent Seattle patriarch John T. Gayton (1866-1954).

Originally, the exhibit was titled “Washington State’s First African Americans” until Bonner came up with more exact wording. “I renamed it because I thought it should expose historical facts about the Northwest, as I believe African-American history is American history. It should be intertwined in our schoolbooks.”

She said learning about the men and women she intended to paint, which started when she began the collection at 22 years old, made her feel proud to be an African-American woman in America and instilled courage in her as a developing artist.

“Learning about these individuals who shared my ethnic background was really encouraging to me. It gave me a boost of confidence to go forward and not get discouraged.”

Bonner noted that a lot of African Americans came to this region of the country as a refuge from Jim Crow laws. Forbidden from owning land elsewhere, the West offered a better equality of life for African-American families.    

“One of the things that inspired me was that against all odds, they accomplished these things even though they didn’t have equal rights.”

The collection includes Dr. Netti Asburry (1865-1968), organizer of the Tacoma chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1913, the first chapter west of the Rockies; Horace Cayton (1850-1940), originator of the publication Seattle Republican, voice of the black community in the Pacific Northwest for more than two decades; and John Conna (1836-1921), one of Tacoma’s earliest settlers and a trailblazing leader among the city’s burgeoning African-American community.

Bonner said she hopes viewers will walk away from the exhibit enlightened by learning of the contributions the people in her paintings gave to the founding of Tacoma, the state of Washington and the whole United States of America.

“That’s, in general, the vein of it,” she said, “to celebrate these individuals who probably didn’t get much celebrating back then.”

Bonner’s “day job” is that of a graphic designer at Bates Technical College. She also operates her own graphic and web design business called Vibrant Creations. She just kicked off a new non-profit, Color Inside Global, through which she plans to create opportunities for people to get engaged in creativity. This mission was wonderfully realized during Art on the Ave this summer when she brought others in to help her paint the new octopus mural in the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Pine Street.

“It was so fun,” she recalled. “Everyone was laughing, sons and daughters were painting with their parents…it was just cool.”

Bonner’s ultimate goal is to be teacher, as she is currently taking classes to earn her certification.

To celebrate the opening of “Exposed,” a reception for Bonner, free and open to the public, will be held Aug. 16, 2-5 p.m., at the Tacoma campus of Evergreen State College, 1210 Sixth Ave.

To learn more about this artist, visit www.vibrantcreations4u.com.

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