Eight Builders

The Builders is a theme that Jacob Lawrence repeated throughout his career as an artist.  As a youth he was exposed to the various tools of the workshop, where he found both the tools and those who used them to be beautiful to observe.  He assembled a collection of tools for his visual enjoyment because he loved their look and respected their function. Internationally renown, Jacob Lawrence was a great American painter of history and urban life, an icon and national treasure who lived for many years in the City of Seattle.
 
Paving the way for the generations of black artists who would follow, Lawrence was the first African-American artist to be represented by a major commercial gallery in the nation.  Without question, he was the most important artist in the City of Seattle. “It was at the Harlem Art Center that I was given materials and instruction in handling the plastic elements of line, texture, color, space, and value.  My content consisted of scenes from the Harlem community: Street orators, bars, churches, dance halls, vaudeville, people at work and play, and the interiors of tenements.” –Artist statement