Even if you are no where near the Portland Art Museum, learning about the work Intisar Abioto has done over the past several years is well worth it. I first became aware of her work when she started her blog and photo essay The Black Portlanders in 2013. The composition of her portraits drew me in. I loved each photograph and how she captured something real about each person. And the stories she gathered were just as important and beautiful as the images.
Then she came in as a researcher and lovely conversations ensued. We ran into each other in a variety of places over the years, the last time in the grocery store where there were hugs and general joy at seeing one another. She is one of those people I feel happy to see at any time.
I also follow the other work she has done over the years. She is a dancer as well as a photographer and writer. In 2018 she was one of the recipients of the Oregon Humanities’ Emerging Journalists, Community Stories fellowship. Her project focused on learning more about Black Artists in Oregon.
“I began this work with the deep question and frankly personal need to know who the Black artists were who had worked in this region of Portland, Oregon, in other times beyond my own. It was as personal as it might have been academic. Because I myself was struggling here and I myself needed to know how they had survived, thrived—or if they hadn’t.” -Intisar Abioto April 2019 Oregon Humanities
I have learned so much from her research especially about Thelma Johnson Streat, a talented artist, painter, modern dancer and singer who lived and worked in Portland and then all over the world. Streat was born in 1912. The Museum of Modern Art purchased her piece Rabbit Man in 1942 and she became the first African American woman to exhibit her work at MOMA.
So back to the exhibit Black Artists of Oregon, Abioto curated this incredible exhibit that is showing at the Portland Art Museum until March 17, 2024. “Beginning in the 1880s and spanning through today, Black Artists of Oregon captures the Black diasporic experiences particular to the Pacific Northwest with 69 artists and over 200 objects.”1
You may be wondering how this fits in with archives and writing. Part of my joy with writing and archives is elevating stories and uplifting the people telling those stories. Abioto has done massive amounts of research in archives but also with artists. She has gathered their stories and helped create a place for artists of the past and present for the future.
A Note:
Years ago I was helping a researcher find something in the Council directories and either they were looking for African American history or I came across the phrase “Negro Colony” and I needed to know more. Essentially the Council directories are large bound volumes organized by decade with every subject matter that came up at Council meetings - its how people found things pre database. I found a petition from community members protesting what they thought was going to be a “negro colony" being developed by the Housing Authority of Portland in 1943 (it never was never a thing and I did look for documentation of plans or discussions). This is one of those examples of records that just needed to be out there in the world, so I scanned 194 pages from the microfilm and uploaded them to Efiles.
Also, when searching for these petitions in Efiles I was having no luck. All I found was the scanned minutes about the petition, but not the 194 pages of the actual petitions. Using the search term “negro colony” (read more about reparative descriptions here) was not working, but then I remembered how the Council documents work. The agenda item number is attached not only to the discussion but to any materials submitted to the council’s official records. I love it when it works!
Check out the podcast series about the exhibit. She shares about her research experience and process. She is amazing!
Loved this story and how it's right up your alley on appreciating untold stories. This one and others constantly gobsmack me on how astoundingly narrow the public appreciation for Black artists has been (and continues). I just went to a symphony concert last night featuring The Third Symphony of Florence Price who was a key figure in the Black Chicago Renaissance. She begged orchestras at the time to even look at her work, let alone consider performing it. You know, your article and that is so important to continue to highlight I'm gonna restack your post. Look how you stirred me up, Mary (lol)!
That exhibit is wonderful!