MoNA displays Betty Black's art collection

Every community relies on organizers, supporters and patrons, and Betty Black was just that for the Skagit Valley during the more than five decades she lived here. She and her husband Ian Black were fixtures locally, supporting organizations, causes and artists. As a result, the Blacks had an art collection in their Mount Vernon home that represented the work of local artists as well as those around the world. The Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) is exhibiting that collection in its first floor gallery through March 15.

Betty was more than a collector, points out Kathleen Moles, MoNA guest curator for “Especially Special: A Celebration of Betty Black and her Collection of Art.” She surrounded herself with the paintings and sculptures she bought. And for some of the artists, her support helped launch or further their careers.

The Blacks also supported Skagit Valley College and local hospitals over the years. According to the artists Moles spoke with, she says, “It was important for them to have a piece of art in her home, not just in her collection. “

Local glass artist Steve Klein conceived of the MoNA exhibit, and worked together with Moles in its planning, because he was so familiar with her collection. “She was the most incredible collector, it wasn’t just about the art, it was the artist and the friendship,” she had with the artist whose work she bought, he says. “It’s not like she was trying to build a historical collection, it was about people she knew and friends.”

Betty and Ian Black brought a part of Scotland with them to the Skagit Valley in 1963. And once here they made themselves part of this small community. With her husband (who had studied art), and independently, Black collected the work of the artists around her, as well as some far beyond the Northwest – Picasso for example.

She opened a designer fashion clothing store in downtown Mount Vernon in 1976 named Betty Black Boutique (BBB), and she brought fashion from around the world to Mount Vernon, conducting buying trips to New York, Los Angeles and London. She also used that store as a fundraiser for local causes.

In 1977 the Blacks bought a house designed by Tony Smith known as the L.L. Brotherton house. She filled that home, from 1977 until her death in 2018, with paintings from the likes of Joel Brock, Guy Anderson, Richard Gilkey, Jim Farr, Steve Klein, Kevin Paul and Clayton James among many others. Black had a social flare, and was often entertaining at her home, hosting fundraisers and supporting causes.

Anderson, Gilkey and many of the Fishtown artists could be found at many of the parties. In fact, her parties were always an event: if you were invited, you didn’t want to miss it, artist Chris Elliot recalls. And she was a natural hostess, who enjoyed her parties as much as her guests did. Friends recall she had a laugh that could make you smile, that could fill up the room and, according to her daughter Fiona Jackson, may have even once shattered a crystal glass.

“Betty lived surrounded by her art,” Moles says, “it was part of her life and she seamlessly intertwined art from around the world with the Northwest artists.” Some local artists have credited the couple with providing the support they needed during hard times. “That kind of philanthropy feels a little endangered these days,” she says.

There are three weeks left to see the exhibit and either reminisce about the Betty Black you knew or learn about a chapter of our local history. A book about the exhibit and Betty and Ian Black’s lives is available for sale.