Caltech Unveils Portrait of Grant D. Venerable, Highlighting Enduring Legacy of Caltech’s First Black Undergraduate

On May 17, Caltech celebrated the unveiling of a new portrait of Grant D. Venerable (BS ’32). The painting by Los Angeles artist June Edmonds stands in the front lobby of Venerable House, named in 2021 in his honor, and embodies the enduring legacy of Caltech’s first Black undergraduate.

The unveiling celebration began with a ceremony in front of the house, where Caltech students, faculty, staff, and members of the Venerable family gathered to hear remarks by Kevin Gilmartin, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English, Allen V.C. Davis and Lenabelle Davis Leadership Chair of Student Affairs, and vice president for student affairs; Venerable House president and second-year undergraduate, Elin Stenmark; and Edmonds.

Stenmark drew parallels between Grant D. Venerable’s character and that of Venerable House, emphasizing shared themes of resilience, integrity, and friendship.

“I’m confident that Grant D. Venerable and his creative and interdisciplinary approach to intellectual endeavors, as well as his commitment to foster community, will inspire students for generations to come,” Stenmark said. “I cannot think of a better role model for our house than this Caltech trailblazer, and I’m honored that we’ll get to host June Edmonds’s Grant D. Venerable portrait within the vibrant walls of our house.”

Edmonds then spoke about the creative process she employed while making the portrait.

“I wanted to paint two Venerables,” she said. “Venerable, the graduate of 1932, with his entire life ahead of him, brimming with hope and brilliance. I also wanted to paint the elder Venerable, who lived through all the love and the loss, through the miraculous winds and the devastating world of blocks. He is not only a huge inspiration, but also encouraging us to do the same, pushing us to keep moving forward when things get hard.”

Edmonds took a biographical approach to the portrait, which features landmarks and elements from throughout her subject’s life. It includes the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company Building where Venerable worked and met his wife, Thelma Scott; the McAlpern Hotel he owned and managed; the family’s Chandler car; and gears symbolizing the chalkboard eraser manufacturing plant Venerable would later own and manage.

In the background of the portrait, above mountains and a tree signifying Venerable’s beginnings in Missouri, a colorful aurora borealis surrounds both figures. Edmonds said a memory shared by Venerable’s daughter, Lynda Venerable Ellington, inspired the inclusion of the northern lights. Venerable Ellington recalled her father telling stories about seeing a beautiful aurora in the sky when he lived near Helena, Montana, while working for his aunt, Margaret Venerable Dezelle, who owned and managed a gold mine there.

“When Lynda told me the story of the aurora and Venerable’s connection to it, I thought that would be a good way to represent that connection that he has to the universe,” Edmonds said.

After Edmonds’s remarks, the Venerable family and other attendees entered the lobby of Venerable House to view the painting, already mounted on the wall. The lobby wall was adorned with a new brown, red, green, and blue mural painted by jill moniz—who curated the portrait and a series of community events honoring Venerable at Caltech—and her assistant, Summer Bernal.

“We wanted to contextualize June’s painting by echoing its colors and placing Venerable and Venerable House in the local geography of the San Gabriel Mountains,” moniz says. “The mural was also a nod to June’s abstract work.”

Upon first seeing the portrait, Venerable Ellington remarked: “There are no words. Just feelings. It so captures the essence of him.” Her daughter, Michelle Ellington, shared the sentiment. At first look, she burst into tears. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen my grandpa,” she said. “I feel like he’s here. I feel like he’s all over.”

Grant D. Venerable’s eldest son, Grant D. Venerable II, described his impression similarly: “I was emotionally overwhelmed by the verisimilitude—verisimilitudes, plural—in his existence, distilled by these two images of him.”

The youngest Venerable, Michelle Ellington’s daughter, Stella Stinchcomb, ran through the crowd and up to the portrait of her great-grandfather without hesitation.

“I’m hoping someday we’ll have another generation at Caltech,” said Ellington, smiling.

Lloyd Venerable, the youngest of Grant D. Venerable’s three children, reflected on the culmination of his father’s time at Caltech.

“There’s an energy of change,” he said, recalling the eugenicist ideologies of past leaders at Caltech, whose names were replaced on campus assets in 2021. “Caltech saw that its history needed to be addressed. Just like this country. And it did something. That’s why I’m standing here today—that’s why we’re all here. There’s something very unique happening at Caltech.”