By Aaron Allen
The Seattle Medium
If you could somehow fuse together art, history, community service and activism you would produce Lawrence Pitre. The City of Seattle is a unique place, its African American community has an intimate, complex and deeply rooted historical relationship within itself and this relationship is masterfully depicted in the works of art of Pitre.
Pitre is one of the Pacific Northwest’s celebrated Artisans as well as a family man, a community activist, and a war veteran. His work has been showcased in some of the Pacific Northwest’s prominent art galleries as well as Seattle’s African American Museum. His work has influenced a younger generation of artisan as he teaches others about art and history.
He frequents schools and community centers teaching his craft and inspiring young artist to follow their dreams no matter the obstacles they may encounter.
Kimberly Phillips who is the art curator for Festival Sundiata says that Pitre’s love for his community and his city is evident in his paintings.
“Lawrence Pitre is a very well-rounded artisan,” says Phillips. “His works speak of who he is, his love for the CD, his culture and community.”
A Seattle Native, Pitre graduated from Garfield High School in 1981. A highly touted high school athlete, Pitre used football as a path to make a difference, but after several successful years of playing football at Wenatchee Junior College, Pitre began to experience a moment of transformation that eventually led him to choose art over football.
While at Wenatchee Junior College Pitre’s artistic talents were discovered while taking an art class which, according to Pitre, he took because it was easy and would help boost his grade point average. Pitre’s art professor noticed his talents in arts and persuaded Pitre to take art on a more serious level. Skeptical at first but open for any challenge, Pitre changed his major from general studies to art.
As a child, Pitre possessed a fascination with art that he kept secret from friends and family because, at the time, art wasn’t the cool thing to do and it was a far second from his true love — football.
“Paint by numbers,” exclaims Pitre about his first endeavor into art.
“My mom and dad would buy me the paint by numbers sets and I would do those but I never told anyone,” recalls Pitre. “I would keep them under the bed or somewhere, so it was a surprise when my art professor at Wenatchee College suggested I should take art seriously.”
In 1984, Pitre transferred to the University of Washington to continue his football career and after discovering art, the arts and its energy was beckoning and Pitre’s inner struggle to continue with football or to pursue his artistic desires continued to grow. Ultimately, he made the tough decision to leave football and discover his purpose.
“I played ball that’s what I do,” said Pitre of his conflicting decision. “So, I went to Don James’ office and told him I had to leave football.”
However, Pitre’s journey into the arts was difficult. The University of Washington not only lacked diversity within its student body but also in its faculty, as there were only two students of color in the Art department and no Black art instructors.
Pitre’s relationship with what he called “non-encouraging professors” plagued his journey compounding his struggle in finding his place in art.
“I really struggled with the idea of what was I going to do,” says Pitre of his art studies. “Was I going to drop out, what else was I going to do, I looked at graphic design, architecture what could I do, because these art teachers were really just, to me, very non-encouraging, no encouragement, none.”
In 1986 with his frustration mounting, Pitre’s endeavor into art would forever change. One day as he entered his classroom and prepared his station, he heard a voice. It was the voice of a Black man, who introduced himself as Pitre’s new art instructor – Jacob Lawrence.
“In walks this guy, I hear his voice, I know it was an African American voice, he introduces himself as Jacob Lawrence and he said, ‘I’m going to be your instructor,’” recalls Pitre.
“I’ve never had a male Black instructor, ever, in my life, in the arts, so it was like wow! I wanted every class with this man,” says Pitre.
Upon finishing with degree in Art from the University of Washington, Pitre set out to establish himself in the artisan community. For a while Pitre could not find full-time work, so he became a freelance artist selling his craft where ever he could. Pitre got his first real big opportunity with Nordstrom using his designs in fabric.
“I remember thinking forget all this nickel and dime stuff and I started looking for the big clients, so I went to Nordstroms,” states Pitre. “Somehow I got an interview, I got a call from this lady, she looked at my designs and said, ‘we’re interested in buying of your designs to put on fabric.”
It was an exciting time for Pitre. However, his career and life changed when he became a father and the arts alone just couldn’t provide for his new family so he landed employment with the Washington State Department Social and Health Services (DSHS) as well as joining the military where he became an officer doing tours oversees in Iraq.
“I really needed a full-time job,” said Pitre. “I couldn’t freelance and so at that point I put my career on hold and went and worked for the government at DSHS and VBA (Veterans Business Administration) and I joined the military.”
According to Pitre, he served in the Army reserves for 13 years and did three tours of duty. But his desire to be an artist never subsided.
As Pitre’s path was being forged, he always remembered a saying his father used to say that gave him the strength to continue, “They got theirs’ so you better get yours,” his father would say.
At the apex of this transformation, Pitre’s civic responsibilities began to kick in as he began to notice changes around his boyhood neighborhood – Seattle’s Central Area. The fabric of the Black community within the Central Area began to unravel and redlining and gentrification began displacing and transforming a once vibrant community.
Pitre then had an artistic epiphany. Why not take his art and interpret the rich history that is the Central Area and the Black people that thrived in it.
“I started noticing all these changes when I returned from military service,” said Pitre. “I notice these changes in my community and it really kind of made me mad that the area itself was being completely wiped away.”
After they went off to college, Pitre’s children pushed him to continue his art by applying for graduate studies.
“My children would say, ‘dad you have sacrificed so much for us it’s time you concentrated on your art,’” says Pitre.
So, he applied to study at Seattle University’s Masters Program where his thesis was how art influence culture and communities does.
“I hadn’t been in school for almost 30-35 years,” says Pitre. “I applied to several schools and got in Seattle University’s Masters program and received my Masters in the Arts.”
Pitre’s thesis was the impetus to his new art series surrounding the history of Black culture in Seattle, in particular the Central District. So, he began studying the history of Black influence dating back to the days of the drum up until the present day and how art influences culture.
“My art covers a timeline from African drumming as a way of entertainment as well as communication, to slave songs, to the period where we got recognized for the music, like jazz,” says Pitre. “I studied the roaring 20s, 30s where we were doing well, then the depression hits and Black culture got pushed to the back burner.”
Through Pitre’s research he discovered the rich history of the Central Area was, so he pondered on what could he do to add or contribute something to the Central Area and his inspiration came from Jacob Lawrence’s ‘Migration Series’.
Pitre surmises, “Ding ding there’s my piece I can do a timeline based off the Central Area historically and the legacies that have played a part of the Central Area’s history, specifically around the diversity the Central Area has always been.”
Pitre states, “Art is a creative exploration, which invokes thought and emotion coupled by techniques used to foster a relationship between its creator and beholder.”
According to Pitre, “he seeks to understand the process of creativity in the way a theoretical physicist seeks to understand the universe.” He calls this “natural intelligence”, it is a key component to his philosophy as he discovers the many different art forms, styles and unique works of art.
Phillips agrees and believes that Pitre’s contributions will forever be remembered.
“Whether it by paints, paper and even mud Larry is Picasso-ish in his presentation as his art depicts his surroundings and his community,” said Phillips.
