Paulson, Don

Seattle-born artist Don Paulson (1933- ) was a painter in the Pop Art style, sometimes using the pseudonym "Whitey Boom." His work is in the collections of institutions like the Seattle Art Museum and the Anchorage Art Museum. After attending Auburn High School, Paulson served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. In 1960s New York, he was involved with Andy Warhol's Factory and attended the first public performance by the Velvet Underground. Discovering the lightshow scene upon his return to Seattle in 1966, he founded Lux Sit and Dance. This collective used projectors, fog machines, prisms, colored liquids, and other paraphernalia to create their light effects, and worked with bands like Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, and the Byrds. Paulson was also a member of E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology), an organization that supported art-science collaborations and encouraged artists to explore new technologies. In addition to his art, Paulson also was an authority on the early gay underground in Seattle, contributing to the Seattle Gay News and co-authoring the book An Evening at the Garden of Allah: A Gay Cabaret in Seattle in 1996. He was active in Black and White Men Together, a gay interracial organization.

From the guide to the Don Paulson Collection of Political and Social Ephemera, 1953-2007, (Museum of History & Industry Sophie Frye Bass Library)

...