Nathaniel Bustion US, 1942-2022

The artwork of Nathaniel “Sonny” Bustion Jr. — ceramics, engraving, lithography, painting and sculpture — explored his African American roots has been exhibited across the world. Venues included the Studio Museum in Harlem; Howard University and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington; the second African Festival in Lagos, Nigeria; the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland; Thailand University in Bangkok; the Antwerp Academy of Art in Belgium; the African American Museum in Philadelphia; the Thomas Hall Art Gallery in Dallas; and, in his adopted state of California, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the California African American Museum and the FDG Art Gallery in Los Angeles, the State Capitol in Sacramento and the Altadena Library. 

Bustion’s work also has been featured in collections at the Smithsonian, the United Nations, the PanAm Building in New York and Colorado State University, his alma mater, and in films and TV shows including “Soul Food,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “The Soul of the Game,” “Moesha,” “Livin’ Single” and “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper.” 

The second of six children of steel worker Nathaniel “Pete” Bustion Sr. and Annie Laura Sherrell-Bustion, he graduated from Carver High School, then earned a basketball scholarship to Colorado State, where he received a degree in commercial art.  

A 6-foot-7 forward, he was taken by the San Francisco Warriors in the seventh round of the 1967 NBA draft. but signed with a Belgian team in Antwerp. While playing there, he earned a fine arts degree at the Antwerp Academy of Art. 

Bustion returned to the United States and began teaching at the Studio Watts Workshop, a community arts center in Los Angeles. There, he met Charles White, a prominent Black artist and teacher, known for his paintings and prints focusing on the African American struggle for equality. 

White became Bustion’s mentor, and Bustion was one of the first students to receive the Charles White Art Scholarship. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Otis Art Institute (now the Otis College of Art and Design), receiving instruction from White himself. 

Bustion said of White in a 2002 interview, “I was really blessed to be in his company and watch him talk about creativity, the social consciousness and hysteria behind it. It was an education that I couldn’t get anywhere else on the planet. I learned the most incredible things from him. This brother put some knowledge on me I’m still discovering today.” 

Bustion spent much time in Africa, learning ancient ceramic sculpting, firing and glazing techniques from traditional scuptors, and teaching art in Lagos. 

Art historian Samella Lewis, known as the “Godmother of Black Art,” called Bustion’s ceramic sculptures “beautiful and monumental,” and described him as among the best African American practitioners of that genre of his generation. 

- Courtesy of the Gadsden Times