early life and education eunice lyle swetman, known by her nickname dusti bongé, was an american painter who worked from the 1930s through the early 1990s. she is considered mississippi's first abstract expressionist painter and its first modernist artist. born in 1903 in biloxi, mississippi, swetman was the youngest of three children born to a prominent banking family. her interest in the arts began at a young age, and she wrote, produced, directed, and acted in plays starring other neighborhood children. career swetman started her career when she moved to new york in 1924, where she acted o…