OXNARD : Wall-Sized Collage Honors Local Blacks

Using old photos and newspaper clippings, a Ventura artist has created a wall-sized collage that recognizes the contributions that local African-Americans have made to Ventura County’s history.

Yvette Sutton created the artwork, which she calls the “1% Wall.” The collage is on display in the Oxnard Community Center through Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

The exhibit’s name comes from the small percentage of African-Americans who lived in the county when she moved here in the 1980s, Sutton said.

“Before the last census, I was looking at the census figures at the library, and some cities were below 1% and some above 1%,” she said. Since then, the county average has risen to over 2%, according to ’90 U. S. census figures.

Despite the group’s small numbers, African-Americans have made significant contributions to the county’s history, she said, and she wants to spread the word.

Sutton, 42, received funding for the project from the Ventura Arts Council, the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, and private donations.

The wall is made of three panels, each measuring 8 feet by 3 feet. She collected and screened about 300 photos from local residents for the project and pored over years of newspaper clippings.

The collage features hundreds of pictures of local figures, such as longtime Ventura resident Lula Smallwood and Beatrice Wyatt, known for her yard full of artful odds and ends, as well as early photos of Olivet Baptist Church in Ventura and Bethel AME Church in Oxnard.

The wall will be on display at the Oxnard Community Center, 800 Hobson Way, today from 6 to 9 p.m., and Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. During February, it will be at the Oxnard Public Library.