Paint, Promote, and Paint Again: Art by Dawn Tree

By B. L. Eikner

Dawn Tree, Tree Eyes, latex acrylic, aerosol on wood board. Photo Credit: DJ Mercer

Some artists leave the promotion of their work to agents and PR firms and delve completely in their worlds of creativity and design, but Dawn Tree armed with a degree in Journalism from Oklahoma State University spends time on both sides of the fence: creation and promotion.

Dawn has traveled around the world developing murals, speaking, teaching both adults and children on art related subjects, hosting solo shows, participating in artist residencies, and creating work with her primary medium of wood, paint, and other color solutions. She is the primary owner of the Underground Tree Studios

Dawn has created a wealth of art on images of Tulsa in the 1921 Era with collages of colors, movement, and forces of love and violence. Along with her images she provides historical data to let the viewer connect with the images, people, and activities.

Dawn was selected as one of the artists in the Bloomberg Greenwood Arts Project in 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma and concluded the project, The Greenwood Joy Experience on June 19, 2021. Let us speak with her for a moment:

Where did you get the name Tree?

My brother gave me some small square pieces of wood thinking I could maybe paint on it. I did, and I liked the way the paint soaked up the wood. I then met the artist BKiamart Adams in Washington, DC. He has work in the Smithsonian Museum of African American Culture and History, and he automatically started calling me Tree. It stuck. I was going by Dawn J. at the time. So, my early works are entitled Dawn J., which stands for my middle name Joylyn.

You do not have an agent, how much of your time do you use promoting your work?

No, I do not. I spend a majority of time promoting. It seems innate and part of the whole process. I used to do marketing, graphics, and web design for clients but now I primarily do it for myself. It is good to have the skillset so I don’t have

to outsource, plus I have a degree in journalism.

Why art and not journalism?

I use all my skills at this point. Journalism comes in handy with everything but especially the graphic art where I search out archived photos and the history that comes along with it. Tulsa haunts me—the past, and the present. There is still a need to light the fire of entrepreneurial spirit in the Black community and foster support of the greater business community.

What and where are your next shows?

I will be featuring my series called The Frequency of Fear at The University of Tulsa’s Hogue Gallery on August 26, 2021. I am creating a graphic for a film-adapted play called What the River Knows by Alicia Inshirad. This play shows a perspective of the coup d’état that took place in Wilmington, NC and will be available November 2021, Thalianhall.org.

Dawn is the author of Tulsa’s Black Wall Street: A Modernized Revelation, Volume 1, a graphic art book, which received Runner Up Commendation in the Phillips Seminary Centennial Commemoration Art Showcase in May 2021. Volume 2 will be out in 2022. Dawn can be reached at utreep.com n

B. L. Eikner is an author, journalist, poet, and art consultant. She is owner of Trabar & Associates and a regular contributor to Art Focus Oklahoma. She recently was included in, Release Me, The Spirits of Greenwood Speak Anthology 2021. She can be reached at Trabar@windstream.net or on Twitter @trabar1

Artist Dawn Tree, photo by Olubumni Film y Foto

Dawn Tree, Blackbird (Soar), latex acrylic, gold leaf, aerosol on wood