5 minute read
Artist Inspires Woodson Warriors
BY ERNEST HOOPER
After a successful career as a psychologist – she holds three degrees from Stanford University, including a doctorate in counseling psychology – and an encore career as an artist in New Mexico, Jane Bunker had essentially retired to Gulfport with her husband, photographer Mason Morfit.
Yet in 2016, all was not well. Bunker found herself facing a health challenge and some financial “lacking.” It was a moment when some turn introspective, focus on themselves and lock out the world. We invite people to be selfish when they’re striving to overcome personal problems.
Bunker declined the invitation.
She chose to not only return to painting, a love she has held since childhood, but to add a philanthropic drive to her new creations.
“As a psychologist and just in my own life experience, I knew that being of service and painting were the two most healing and passionate things in my life,” Bunker said. “I thought that painting would get my attention off myself and off my own worries.
“I think the fastest way to be in a really peaceful place is to focus on what you can give to other people.”
Bunker decided to give to area African-American high school students. Inspired by her friendship with Terri Lipsey Scott, the executive director of the Woodson African American Museum of Florida, she made up her mind to create works of art and sell them to generate a scholarship fund. She met Scott in 2015 and the two immediately hit it off.
“Terry and I just clicked,” Bunker said. “Maybe she clicks with everybody, but I just fell in love with her.”
Bunker wanted to honor a grieving Scott by naming the fund after her mother, who had recently passed away.
“While I was deeply touched by her generosity, I couldn’t shake the feeling that my mother’s name would not resonate with the local community,” Scott said. “Gratefully accepting Jane’s proposal, I suggested naming the scholarship The Woodson Warriors Scholarship, a moniker that would not only honor my mother but also embody the spirit of resilience and strength ingrained in the Woodson’s mission.
“Jane embraced the idea wholeheartedly, and with unwavering dedication, she began painting tirelessly, creating a visual tapestry of extraordinary works of art that would capture hearts and inspire support for our cause.”
On a Mission
Scott’s laudatory words only begin to tell the story. Bunker spent two years painting lilies, she says because you often give flowers as a dinner guest. She wouldn’t describe herself as a religious person, but in lilies she found a quality that resonated with her spirituality. The flowers, with an almost dreamy blur, drew interest as she exhibited them at the Woodson and the Mahaffey Theater.
From an initial pot of $43,000, and choosing the first group of Woodson Warriors in 2019, the fund has steadily grown. The lilies’ trumpet stems sounded a clarion call not only to art lovers, but people with a genuine interest in supporting African-American students.
The Milkey Family Foundation, seeking to create its own scholarship fund, chose instead to partner with the Woodson Warriors with an initial annual pledge of $50,000 that it has increased to $100,000 over the next 10 years. The Rays, through a connection with team president Brian Auld, and the Valspar Championship also have become contributors.
Equally pleasing to Bunker? The donors who dug deep and gave what they could, ranging from $10 a month to $25,000 annually.
Bunker says none of the success would be possible without Scott’s vision and drive. Both point to the serendipity that has brought them together and spurred the fund.
“It’s almost as if my mother’s guiding presence from beyond is orchestrating this success,” Scott said. “In heaven, she’s my guardian angel, while Jane and Mason, here on earth, are the angels assigned to walk alongside me, ensuring that the program’s triumphs continue to unfold.”
Warriors find success
Now the program counts 60 scholars in its ranks, with students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities, in-state schools and prestigious institutions such as Juilliard and Barnard College. The group includes aspiring lawyers, dentists and nurse practitioners, and 90 percent of its most recent bachelor degree recipients have chosen to pursue higher degrees.
Most notably, none of the Woodson Warriors have exited college even though statistics from the Education Data Initiative indicate 54 percent of African-American students drop out of college, with 30 percent dropping out in their freshman year.
Bunker draws inspiration from the students not just because of their academic prowess, but because of their giving hearts. Long before the racial reckoning brought on by the death of George Floyd, she developed a connection to what she calls, “my human family,” first at peer counseling conferences and then as a volunteer in the diverse community of East Palo Alto, Calif., near Stanford.
“You know, I will never know what it would be to be a black person in our culture,” Bunker said. “But I can only imagine that I would have a lot of anger. Yet Terri and all the people that I’ve met at the museum and the scholars, they treat me with such love. They treat me as a human being that cares about them and that they care about.”
In the final assessment, the Woodson Warriors represent a story as layered as the multiple brush strokes in Bunker’s paintings. It’s the beauty of her artwork, Scott’s indomitable community care, the success of the students, and the providence that helped the program grow.
Yet, it’s as much about a wonderful friendship, and what such a friendship can yield when you lead with love.
Ernest Hooper is the Senior Vice President for Communications at United Way Suncoast and a former editor and columnist for the Tampa Bay Times.
