Black Arts West Alumni Association, LLC

An Illuminated Legacy:  The Black Arts West Theater Exhibit

Its Spirit Lives on Fifty Years After the Final Curtain at Seattle’s Black Arts West Theater

Dream On Monkey Mountain/1971 
(Author, Derek Walcott; Director, Jason Bernard)

Founded by visionary Douglas Q. Barnett, Black Arts West was more than a theater—it was a launching pad for young, Black talent in Seattle and beyond. It gave curious teens a place to dream, discover, and grow into artists, educators, leaders, and changemakers.

Now, those once-curious youth return as elders to tell their stories. A unique exhibit—curated not by historians but by those who lived it—brings this legacy to life through immersive storytelling, personal archives, and intergenerational collaboration.

But we need your help!

This GiveBIG, donate to support the fundraising efforts for this powerful exhibit. Your gift helps preserve history, honor community roots, and inspire the next generation of creatives.

Please Donate Now! Be Part of the Legacy

"Black Arts West was More Than a Theater—it was a Launchpad for Futures Once Thought Impossible."

Fifty years after the final stage bow, Seattle’s Black Arts West Theater, founded by the passionate visionary Douglas Q. Barnett from 1969 – 1980, and Black Arts West’s offspring, NuBlack Arts West Theater, founded in 1995, under the ongoing stewardship of Kibibi Monie. Experience a powerful exhibit and dynamic online programming—designed as a traveling installation—that brings triumphant stories to life through stunning photos, compelling videos, rare archival documents, immersive digital media, and more.

We will present an exhibit and online programming—designed as a traveling installation—that shares triumphant stories through photos, videos, archival documents, digital media, and more.

This exhibit is proudly curated by the former teens and young adults of the 1960s through the 1990s, who were fortunate benefactors, now returning as elders in their golden years, sharing the rare stories of the theaters' transformative influences that shaped their lives into successful, unimagined, chosen professions. 

This exhibit will be a powerful and eye-opening gift, created to uplift communities rich in raw, natural talent, while honoring and preserving the legacy of Douglas Q. Barnett through the work of the Black Arts West Alumni Association.

With this living chapter of Seattle’s early Black Theater still with us, your support can help bring this story to the nation. By donating to this vital fundraiser, you’re not only preserving history, you’re fueling creativity, cultivating imagination, and empowering future generations.

Theater poster artwork by Al Doggett (http://www.aldoggett.com/)

                                                     Slave Ship/1971 (Author, LeRoi Jones/aka Amiri Baraka; Director: Beatrice Winde) Black Girl/1971 (Author, J. E. Franklin; Director: Buddy Butler)

  Wine in the Wilderness/1970 (Author, Alice Childress)

Sty of the Blind Pig/1974  (Author, Phillip Hayes Dean, Director: Buddy Butler)

Black Arts West Dance Company Debut Performance  Song Of The Lusitanian Bogey/1971 (Author, Peter Weiss; Director: Allie Woods Jr.) The Great MacDaddy/1973 (Author, Paul Carter Harrison; Director: Rafic Bey)The River Niger/1973 (Author, Joseph A. Walker: Director: Buddy Butler)Evolution Of A Sister/1973 (Author, Francine Major, Director: Francine Major) Five On The Black Hand Side/1974 (Author, Charles Fuller: Director: Buddy Butler)    Simply Heavenly/1974 (Author, Langston Hughes, Director: Buddy Butler)

   Kibibi Moniè: Founder & Artistic Director Kibibi Moniè: Founder & Artistic Director   The Colored Museum (Author, George C. Wolfe, Director: Kibibi Moniè)
The Homecoming (Author, August Wilson, Director: Kibibi Moniè) 
Dark Divas/2019 (Authors, Demane Hall & Kibibi Moniè)