MILT SIMONS: ANOTHER ARTISTIC LEGACY FROM THE CENTRAL DISTRICT

Seattle's historic Black community is tied to more arts legacies than one may imagine. And while there are a number of arts entities currently dedicated to the exploration and preservation of Seattle's Black arts history, new stories continue to emerge.

Take, for instance, the legacy of Milt Simons, born in Seattle in 1923, raised mainly in the Central District, and a 1940 graduate of Garfield High School. Simons co-founded one of Washington state's first artist cooperatives, Milann Gallery, in 1958. While Simons identified as multiracial in acknowledgement of his Black and Native ancestry, he was one of only a few Black artists showing work and directing his own gallery at the time. The gallery was noted for showcasing women artists and artists of color, and for its integration of visual art with live jazz performances. Thankfully, this blending of artistic genres is making a comeback in the very community where Simons was nurtured.

Milt Simons, left, and Paul Dusenbury going over musical charts, c. 1970. Courtesy of Serge and Rebekah Simons.

Simons drew his artistic inspiration from a spectrum of cultural influences - classical music, jazz, spirituals, and his family's pioneering history in Washington state. Of his many talents, Simons identified as a painter, dancer, poet, musician, teacher, and amateur fencer. He even studied dance in New York under Seattle native Syvilla Fort, who was the first Black student at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.

In 2023, Simons was the subject of a profile feature as part of the Black Arts Legacies series. The first museum exhibition to focus on the vision of Milt Simons opens on June 4, 2025, at the Cascadia Art Museum in Edmonds, Washington. The exhibit, Harmony of the Spheres: Milt Simons, Marianne Hanson & Paul Dusenbury, runs through August 17, 2025, and is a showcase of the connectedness between these 3 artists and the ways in which they helped to shape the unique Northwest aesthetic in the mid-20th century.

Milt Simons (1923-1973), Untitled, 1948. Oil on canvas. Private Collection.

Speaking of Black arts legacies, beginning May 30 - June 27, you can sign up to feast on new stories released weekly that highlight the Black creatives and makers who have contributed to the rich legacy of Black art in Seattle.

Black Arts Legacies celebrates local musicians, dancers, visual artists, poets, performers, curators, and architects whose creative expressions reflect the complexity of being a Black artist in Seattle. Explore stories of being the first, of contending with discrimination and breaking down barriers, of long careers and careers cut short, and of building community through the arts.