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Jite Agbro is a non-traditional Nigerian American printmaker who grew up in Seattle, WA. The focus of her work is nonverbal communication, and the process of exchanging shared cultural, historical, and familial cues between individuals and groups. Specifically, she is interested in the way human beings project themselves and their identities into the greater public space.

Jite was born in Seattle (February 27, 1982), but her parents moved back to Nigeria only two weeks later.  “I spent my first two years of life in Nigeria. We moved back to Seattle when my parents separated. My family was one of the first African families to move to the [Central District] neighborhood. We didn’t fit in, and we had to learn how to make it home.”  When Jite was nine years old, she stumbled across a free art class for kids at Pratt Fine Arts Center. The teacher invited her in, and she began making block prints out of old erasers. “I took to it right away. It was such a simple and satisfying way to create something!” She returned to the class the following Saturday, and the weekend after that.  She continued taking classes at Pratt until she was sixteen and eventually won the first Pathway Scholarship ever offered, which helped with her acceptance into Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and California College of Arts in Oakland CA wher she studied drawing and printmaking.

Portrait Photo Credit:  James Harn