Cleinmann’s mural displays multiple generations of Black women, a manifestation of Biggers’ teachings about their importance. The mural is one of the few unfinished murals in Hannah Hall. Typically, unfinished murals were painted over. The mural was recently restored by conservators.
This painting depicts an older Black man sitting and reading a newspaper. The dimly lit scene is minimal and the man, his chair, and the paper are the only aspects visible, highlighting the focus of the painting. The artist cleverly incorporates real newspapers into the piece's media.
This is a brochure for Jones’ senior art exhibition. The culmination of the Texas Southern art curriculum is a senior exhibition where students showcase artwork created over the course of their undergraduate studies. The brochure features a portrait of Jones, a brief biography, a catalog of the artwork featured in the exhibition, and several photos of his paintings, designs, weavings, and sculptures.
This painting is an Afrocentric self-portrait of Earl Jones, who attended Texas Southern University in the mid-1970s. Jones painted himself wearing a detailed shirt with various patterns reminiscent of African textiles. The background includes round homes with conical roofs. The buttons of Jones' shirt are in the form of humans and the shirt bears the design of a plowed field.
In this interview, Texas Southern art alumnus Earl Jones, Jr. discusses his experience as a student who graduated in 1996. During his first period of study at TSU, Jones painted a mural reflecting on environmentalism and racism—these themes continue into his current works. Nowadays, Jones primarily creates intricate wood carvings.
Charoennimuang's senior notebook includes her written philosophy of art, photographs of the artist’s works and her process, and a copy of her senior exhibition brochure. As a part of the Texas Southern art curriculum under Dr. John T. Biggers and Professor Carroll Harris Simms, students would create these notebooks to explain their artistry and showcase the works they created as students.
Mendoza’s drawing shows two doves and a serpent protecting an abstract, embryo-like figure. A geometric aura emanates from the bundle of creatures, perhaps alluding to the way parents protect their children. The drawing is created using crosshatching and heavy use of geometric shapes; both of these techniques are characteristic of the work of Dr. John T. Biggers and his students.
Biggers’ drawing shows a woman and her reflection. The woman, positioned on the left side of the composition, looks slightly back over her left shoulder, while the sun creeps out from around her midsection. The woman is cradling a baby in her arms. Her reflection is drawn loosely with minimal details, and the two are separated by a line of plant and fish shapes.
Woodruff’s portrait depicts Martin Luther King Jr., the iconic civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968. Woodruff taught art at Atlanta University for 15 years and perhaps came into contact with MLK during this time. Two of these three side profiles appear to show King smiling, while in the third he is looking away with a serious expression. Woodruff's Art of the Negro murals at Clark Atlanta University are one of his crowning achievements.
This etching by American artist Leonard Baskin shows a dog dozing in a meadow. A crow rests on a plant above the dog. Unlike most works held by the University Museum, the artist is not an alumnus of Texas Southern, nor tied to the university in any way. Instead, this piece was donated to the museum by a benefactor.
Sandifer’s senior notebook includes his written philosophy of art, photographs of the artist’s works, and several of his poems. As a part of the Texas Southern art curriculum under Dr. John T. Biggers and Professor Carroll Harris Simms, students would create these notebooks to explain their artistry and showcase the works they created as students.
This is a universal scene of the despair and struggle facing a group determined to survive. The lone tree in the moonlight starkly symbolizes the darkness surrounding the scene (center left panel), while the tree rising from a swamp (leftmost panel) suggests hope with the bird, butterfly, and waterlily indicating transformative beauty.
This is a brochure for Curnell’s senior art exhibition. The culmination of the Texas Southern art curriculum is a senior exhibition where students showcase artwork created over the course of their undergraduate studies. The brochure features a photo of Curnell, a brief biography, a catalog of the artwork featured in the exhibition, and photos of several of her artworks and designs.
Ellison’s painting reflects the brutality and grief experienced by the Black community. In the foreground, a skull is pierced by the American flag. On the right side, a headstone honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. is surrounded by nude mourners. In the background, a shadowy dove spreads its wings, perhaps representing MLK’s dream of peace being obscured by white supremacist violence.
This unknown student’s bust was created during their time as an art student at TSU. Under the instruction of Professor Carroll Harris Simms, artists would create self-portraits embellished with decorations like spirals and accentuated crown pieces, like in this sculpture. These busts are inspired by Nok terracotta sculptures and Ife busts, which Simms saw during his travels to Western Africa. This bust is different from others due to its black ceramic and large rectangular base.
Etienne created her painting, “Dancing Still Life,” as part of a class assignment based on objects within her home. Etienne selected these figures, which her mother collected from the National Museum of African American History & Culture, white orchids in a blue pot, and a glass dish from her grandmother's home. A graduate from Texas Southern University, Etienne emphasizes femininity, movement, and flowers in her art.
The face mask is from the Dan (Yacouba) ethnic group of Cote D'Ivoire and Liberia and is spiritually meaningful. The mask has simple facial features with small slits for eyes, a broad nose, and protruding lips and may be worn by dancers, athletes, and warriors.
Jafar’s terracotta depicts a mother figure carrying her child on her back. The exterior of the sculpture is smooth and lacking any of the motifs that are normally featured on Texas Southern students’ terracottas, perhaps suggesting the sculpture was left unfinished. The mother and child relationship is one of the most frequently featured themes in the artwork of students of Dr. Biggers and Professor Simms.
Jones’ surrealistic mural depicts bald, cyclops-like men conducting a television broadcast. Jones incorporated architecture into the design by using a window, since painted over, as the camera’s lens. A man beneath the camera carries a torch with a strong, flowing flame.
“Shrine,” by Curtis Watson Jr., features a duck-like creature surrounded by various embellishments, including spirals, a commonly used visual motif in the student terracottas. Unfortunately, the head of the figure is missing, leaving only the body in view. The full sculpture can be seen in archival photos shot by Dr. John T. Biggers of the artist at work.
Watson’s senior notebook includes his written philosophy of art, photographs of the artist’s works and his process, and a copy of his senior exhibition brochure. As a part of the Texas Southern art curriculum under Dr. John T. Biggers and Professor Carroll Harris Simms, students would create these notebooks to explain their artistry and showcase the works they created as students.
This is a brochure for Watson’s senior art exhibition. The culmination of the Texas Southern art curriculum is a senior exhibition where students showcase artwork created over the course of their undergraduate studies. The brochure features a catalog of the artwork featured in the exhibition, a photo of his terracotta sculpture, and a photo of one of his paintings.
This painting, created by an unknown TSU art student, depicts the base of a tree or wooden telephone pole, with various smaller plants and vines creeping up its structure. Dr. John T. Biggers encouraged students to study the natural world and seek inspiration from it. He instructed students to sit outside for an extended period of time and observe.
This drawing by Dr. John T. Biggers depicts a family caught up in a wild storm that is swirling around them. Biggers' artwork frequently highlights family dynamics and the centrality of mothers. Biggers appears to have later repurposed this sketch and added additional floral details to create his 1992 print Metamorphosis III.
Gordon's painting reflects the work life of cotton harvesters. The three pictured laborers are older and formally dressed as they pick cotton bolls and carry baskets. Many of the cotton plants are shown with white flowers, an early stage in the plant’s development. This suggests Gordon may be familiar with the process of cotton farming and harvesting.
This is a copper etching plate for Long’s piece Roma, which was created during his 1990-91 Prix de Rome fellowship. Featuring one layer of the print, a series of swirls and a heart, the full composition is somewhat reminiscent of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Long rose to prominence as an “outsider artist” without formal training, later becoming one of the co-founders of Project Row Houses.
This is a zinc etching plate for one layer of Long’s Post Rome, lips with diagonal rays around them. In the full print, the center of the design is a large, oval-shaped eye. This is a frequently used motif in Long’s artwork, across many different mediums. Vertical and diagonal rays and bars draw attention towards the eye, which features a man’s face where the pupil would be. Long’s print was created during his 1990 Prix de Rome fellowship.
This is a copper etching plate for Long’s piece Roma, which was created during his 1990-91 Prix de Rome fellowship. Featuring one layer of the print, a blobby figure, the full composition is somewhat reminiscent of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Long rose to prominence as an “outsider artist” without formal training, later becoming one of the co-founders of Project Row Houses.
This is a copper etching plate for one layer of Long’s Post Rome, an eye with a man’s face at its center. This is a frequently used motif in Long’s artwork, across many different mediums. In the print, vertical and diagonal rays and bars draw attention towards the eye. Long’s print was created during his 1990 Prix de Rome fellowship.
Oliver’s mural contains an homage to Frederic Leighton’s Flaming June. The central figure is surrounded by vast, flowing patterns of deep red, reddish-brown, pink, and aqua, in the midst of which two figures seem to struggle against the energized space, while the female figure remains in deep sleep.
