Bonnie Hopper: How We Got Here

October 2-November 1

Gallery 110 is honored to present How We Got Here, a deeply personal and historically resonant solo exhibition by Puyallup artist Bonnie Hopper.

This new body of work reflects on Hopper’s family legacy during The Great Migration—the massive 20th-century movement of African Americans from the South to the North and West in search of freedom, safety, and opportunity. Through vibrant portraits and evocative landscapes, Hopper honors the journey of her own parents, Horace and Marie Hopper, who left behind segregation-era Mississippi and Arkansas in the 1950s and headed to Seattle to build a new life.

One of the standout works in the show, Road to Damascus (featured at right), captures the dignity and quiet strength of the women who held families and communities together during times of upheaval. Her piercing yet warm gaze, detailed hat, and celestial-patterned garment are set against a kaleidoscopic glass tile mosaic backdrop that brings to mind the stained glass of a church window—suggesting both the fragility and sacredness of memory.

Hopper’s use of bold color, richly patterned textiles, and symbolic detail brings to light stories that have shaped generations but are often left untold.