Exhibit of African American art, artifacts from renowned collection opens in Tacoma
A new exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum is looking to fill the gaps in human consciousness and standard education regarding African American history.
Beginning July 31, the museum will feature over 150 artifacts from the renowned Kinsey African American Art & History Collection.
“There are those who have contributed … vastly to this country, and continue to, but aren’t acknowledged as the contributors,” Khalil Kinsey said in an interview with The News Tribune. “As a result, that allows for a lot of misunderstanding, a lot of intolerance, a lot of misinformation and lies.”
Khalil is the general manager and chief curator of the Kinsey Collection. The collection consists of artworks, letters and other artifacts that honor African Americans’ achievements and contributions to America from 1595 until today.
Khalil’s parents, Shirley and Bernard Kinsey, collected about 700 artifacts throughout their marriage. Over 150 artifacts from the collection will be showcased at the Pacific Northwest for the first time.
“We’re at a deficit in America when it comes to our understanding of each other,” Khalil Kinsey said. “What we’re just trying to do is fill in the ditch just to get to the ground level so that you can then build on top of that. Right now we’re underground.”
One artifact in the exhibit is the baptismal record of a Black girl named Estebana, who was born into slavery in 1595. The record is from Diocese of St. Augustine, a Catholic church in Florida. The document establishes the presence of African Americans in North America before Jamestown was founded in 1607.
A plaque that reads, “American Beach Negro Ocean Playground,” is another artifact in the exhibit. The plaque, which was on a Florida beach in 1930, was the only beach Shirley Kinsey’s family could go to.
One of the first art pieces people will see as they walk into the exhibit is a painting of Bernard, Khalil and Shirley Kinsey. “The Cultivators,” an oil painting by Samuel L. Dunson, Jr., showcases the family harvesting books from the soil on the ground.
“He saw us as cultivators of knowledge trying to impart wisdom to young people,” Shirley Kinsey said in an interview with The News Tribune. “Bernard’s harvesting the books, I’m cleaning them, and Khalil’s reading ‘The Prophet’ by Kahlil Gibran, who he’s named after.”
Shirley Kinsey said she wants people to walk away from their collection feeling inspired, motivated and educated. The collection does not only portray Black history — it is American history that needs to be shared, she said.
“I really believe that the only way you can have 20/20 vision in America is to understand the African American story,” Bernard said.
The Kinsey Collection has been featured in about 30 cities in America as well as overseas. That includes the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the University of Hong Kong’s Museum and Art Gallery.
Shirley and Bernard Kinsey were born and raised in Florida. They moved to California in 1967, which is where Khalil was born. The couple met days after Shirley Kinsey got arrested while attending a civil rights protest in her hometown, St. Augustine.
TAM will showcase the Kinsey Collection until Nov. 28. The museum opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. Wednesday and Sunday, 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday. Tickets cost $18 for adults and $15 for people 65 and older. Children 18 and under as well as military, veterans and their families can get in for free.
A list of events following the opening of the exhibition can be found on TAM’s website.
This story was originally published July 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
