Black Art & Black Artists Exhibition

I’m a local community artist from Tacoma, Washington, and a graduate of the Art Institute of Seattle and Evergreen State College.

What inspires me is using art and design as a catalyst to open dialog and reflection.

My work focuses on telling stories about people and places, and our intricate connections to cultural influences. Through a storytelling lens. I illuminate the Black experience and its multidimensional connection to many different cultures.

I use a layered painting technique that helps me create luminous paintings with depth and character.

My work has been exhibited in groups and solo shows throughout the state of Washington and abroad.

A Pioneering Spirit, A Fight for Liberty and Freedom is an educational art exhibit that explores little-known facts about WA state history through written biographies and larger-than-life portraits.

Born in Indianapolis, IN, Jasmine Iona Brown earned her B.F.A in Design at Howard University and her M.A. in International Studies from UCLA. Brown received two Puffin Foundation Grants and an Artist Trust GAP Award.

Her public art installation Black Teen Wearing Hoodie has been displayed in Photo Center Northwest, Frye Museum of Art, and Amazon headquarters.

Her works are in the Wing Luke Museum, the Trayvon Martin Foundation, Spokane Libraries, Sound Transit, Evergreen Tacoma and Africatown Community Land Trust.

Brown is a member of the Tacoma Arts Commission, Public Art coordinator for Spaceworks Tacoma, and founder of the non-profit Swan Creek Academy.

Born and raised in Tacoma, WA, I live in Tacoma with my husband Joseph Essien and our two sons Joseph Jr and Israel.

I took basic drawing and basic painting while attending Tacoma Community College.

My work has been exhibited at the UW Towers, UW School of Social Work, C Art Gallery, Festival Sundiata, Handforth Gallery, Washington State History Museum, B2 Fine Art Gallery, People Center, 253 Collective, and Tacoma Urban League.

Love Yourself was my first commissioned public art piece by the Tacoma Art Commission and City of Tacoma. I have curated several shows, taught Art in Ghana, and done art workshops in Pierce County.

JW Harrington is a painter, social science professor, and baritone, living, painting, and singing in Tacoma, Washington.

Harrington was born in South Carolina, educated at Harvard University and the University of Washington, and has worked on east and west coasts of the U.S.

He’s studied painting and drawing with Sandy Bricel Miller in Seattle. He is a member of Gallery 110 (Seattle). His work is also available through Berkano Gallery (Seattle), Ryan James Fine Arts (Kirkland), and jwharrington.com.

The Impossibility of Knowing series refers to the strength of memory and imagination, compared to what is “real” or “observed.” In these paintings, a solid shape, figure, or silhouette interacts with its mirrored outline: something that seems substantive is augmented with its mirror, shadow, or luminescence. The interplay creates dynamism, as each shape is pulled in its opposite direction.

Artist and designer Lourdes Jackson has always created, as a child drawing cartoon characters to a man doing portraiture for friends and family. With no formal training he honed his skills during incarceration throughout his 20s.

Born in Portland, Oregon, Lourdes lives in Tacoma, Washington. In 2018, Lourdes created and exhibited work in American art capitals Los Angeles, New York and Miami, where he gained creative control of a wall within the World Famous Wynwood Arts District.

Since 2019 he has focused on large scale works, installations and murals. In 2021 he spent three months creating art in Mombasa, Kenya. Most recently, Lourdes is the designer of the 11th & L development with Tacoma Housing Authority in the hilltop area. Find work @lourdesenfleur and www.lourdesenfleur.com

I am a self-taught photographer from the eastside of Tacoma, Washington, with over a decade of experience.

Growing up, I have always tried to see the beauty in the gritty landscape I was raised in. My surroundings influenced my unique eye for color within my photographs.

After going to school for broadcast journalism, in my early years of secondary education, I chose to switch my focus to business administration, while taking photographs in my spare time.

I currently own a photography company called Telvanni Visuals, where we focus on highlighting the extreme beauty and simplicity of the areas around us.

I was born in El Paso, Texas. Currently, I live in Tacoma WA.

My Dad and Mom are my creative Inspiration.

They both served in the United States Army, but the United States of America did not serve them. They served the country despite racial, social, and economic injustices.

My father, William Jones, a Buffalo Soldier, and Mother, a (WAC) Women’s Army Corps Branch.

Both keepers of The Fire. I am working to keep the fire burning.

Jason McDonald is an artist living in Philadelphia, PA. He got his start in glass art at the age of 14 through Hilltop Artists in his hometown of Tacoma, WA.

Jason completed his undergraduate degree at California College of the Arts in Oakland, CA in 2018 and was a 2020 recipient of the Windgate-Lamar Fellowship from the Center for Craft.

Jason was a featured contestant in season two of the Netflix show Blown Away. His work has been featured at multiple exhibitions including GATHER: 27 Years of Hilltop Artists at the Tacoma Art Museum.

He is currently completing an MFA degree at Tyler School of Art and Architecture, and is a member of Better Together, an artist team that celebrates and supports the careers of BIPOC makers.

Necashaw Montgomery was born on the ancestral lands of the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples known as Long Beach, CA.

They moved to the ancestral lands of the Puyallup tribe and Coast Salish peoples known as Tacoma, Washington at the age of eight years old.

In gratitude to all that have come before, Necashaw offers this quote,

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
- Howard Thurman

Necashaw uses pronouns they and she.

Lauren Napier is a Renaissance woman who creates a world of poetry, painting, melody, and journalism.

An often traveling military brat, she currently has an address in Tacoma; her travels inform and inspire her artistic output.

Often dwelling in the landscapes of the desert, Lauren’s art seeks to spark conversation about themes of drought, the history of the American West, and the flora and fauna that live within.

Napier graduated from Bowdoin College, has penned children’s books, toured with the Black Opry, and continues the hope of offering moments of softness and pause to the world.

Savannah Renauldi is an abstract artist, sex educator, and training art therapist living in Olympia, Washington.

They were born in Evanston, Illinois, and displayed a natural passion for healing through the performing arts. However, it was through their first fine arts class in 2013 that Savannah discovered the healing power of color theory through still-life replication.

They then majored in Theater with a minor in Art at the University of Miami in Florida to develop their style to help others.

As a result, Savannah honed their voice by creating a career path through sexual healing and art therapy.

Kenya Shakoor is a self-taught photographer and lifelong Washington resident.

She held her debut photo exhibition Dreaming in Black in 2019. The exhibition was an ode to the awe-inspiring softness and grace so intrinsic to Black life.

In 2022, Kenya presented an orginal workshop at Tacoma Art Museum entitled Framing Portraiture as an Act of Love, exhibited a new photo series at Wa Na Wari’s Walk the Block and was named as a finalist for The Current, an artist award from Tacoma Art Museum.

Kenya is committed to visual storytelling that facilitates conversation and expands our collective imagery.

Shirley Ann Simmons, born 1932 and raised in Washington D.C., also lived in Brooklyn, New York; Montclair, New Jersey; and St. Louis, Missouri.

She was a graduate of Howard University, with a major in Fine Art and later became an elementary school educator.

She produced most of her artistic work in St. Louis, Missouri. Her work was of friends and family and Shirley’s portraits were commissioned by Washington, D.C., and Missouri notables.

Ms. Simmons was also selected to submit an entry to the 1996 Olympic Mural Contest where she was given an honorable mention.

Since her passing in spring of 2022, Simmons’s son has been looking to begin a traveling exhibition of her work to share her talent and artistic eye for the African American culture, working with pastels and graphite media. The vivid colors and realism are apparent in all of her works of art.

Growing up in the Tacoma/Seattle region, Edgar Valentine was bound to cross paths with glass art at some point.

Luckily, through the Hilltop Artists program, he was able to start working with hot glass at the young age of 12. What started as just an after school activity, soon became a passion and lifestyle.

Seeking to gain more knowledge and learn from many different artists, Edgar started taking more advanced glassblowing classes at public and private studios, where he discovered a true connection with the glass community.

As he continues his glass journey 15 years later, he’s still always ready to learn from other artists, along with sharing what he’s learned along the way.