TSU

1927

ESTABLISHED

8,704

STUDENTS ENROLLED / FALL 2024

45

DEGREES OFFERED / 2024-2025

University Museum at Texas Southern Collection Highlights

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Begin exploring the immense repository of artistic images, creative works, and cultural ephemera expertly stewarded by the University Museum at Texas Southern, with the following five collection highlights. The collection highlights below represent newly digitized materials that expand access to and deepen understanding of historically significant collections stewarded by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

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TSU ARCHIVE

Hannah Hall Murals

TSU ARCHIVE

John Biggers Murals

TSU ARCHIVE

TSU Student Terracottas

TSU ARCHIVE

Recent Graduates

TSU ARCHIVE

Permanent Collection

Hannah Hall Murals

128 student murals adorn the walls of historic Mack H. Hannah Hall, the second oldest building on Texas Southern’s campus. The mural program was the brainchild of Dr. John T. Biggers, who lobbied to allow his senior art majors to paint the walls of what was then the only academic building on campus. The murals cover a range of topics including politics, religion, nature, futurism, and rural life in the South. The Hannah Hall murals serve as a visual archive, providing a lens into the worldviews of young, Black artists from the 1950s to 2010s.

John Biggers Murals

Dr. Biggers, who was influenced by Mexican muralists, and his former professor, famed artist, Charles White, who he studied under as an undergraduate student at Hampton Institute. Dr. John T. Biggers painted three murals on the TSU campus, Web of Life, NUBIA, and Family Unity, which was commissioned by the TSU student body and painted directly on the walls of the student cafeteria. Beginning with his 1957 UNESCO Fellowship in West Africa, Biggers became deeply influenced by African art, symbolism, and spirituality.

Recent Graduates

Current and recently graduated TSU art students carry on the legacy of John T. Biggers, Carroll Harris Simms, and other faculty and students that came before them. Many traditions have carried over; students still produce portraits, sculptures, and murals. Perhaps most importantly, each senior still contributes works from their undergraduate portfolio to the University Museum’s Permanent Collection, just as Biggers’s and Simms’s students did. Much has changed, too. Students take classes in digital art, producing impressive virtual designs. Additionally, where many past students became art teachers, new opportunities have seen recent graduates enter fields like design, social media, and museums.

TSU Student Terracottas

Students of Professor Carroll Harris Simms created an incredible collection of terracotta sculptures. The sculptures were inspired by Nok and Ife sculptures, which Simms encountered during his international travels. This began with Fulbright Fellowships where he studied Benin and Yoruba art under William Fagg at the British Museum and later continued when he traveled to West Africa. The terracotta sculptures are heavily embellished with designs, particularly swirls. Several motifs appear frequently in the student works, particularly animal forms, shrines, and the mother & child relationship.

Permanent Collection

From the inception of the Texas Southern art department, Dr. John T. Biggers and Professor Carroll Harris Simms had an eye towards history. Beginning with the first graduating class, the faculty would select a number of pieces from each graduating senior’s portfolio. These selections came to form the museum’s permanent collection, which have been used as tools for teaching TSU students for over 60 years. Works including paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures, pottery, textiles, and more are included in the collection.

Visit the On Campus Exhibit

The University Museum at Texas Southern presents Homecoming: The 12th Biannual TSU Art Alumni Exhibition 2025.This exhibition showcases the works of Texas Southern University’s talented art alumni. We want all of our visitors to have a memorable experience exploring the art wonders at the University Museum. The gallery is always FREE and open to the public Tuesdays – Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. Click here to learn more.

Notable Individuals

Kermit Oliver

Kermit Oliver is a proud TSU alum recognized as the only American artist to create scarves for fashion house of Hermès. Oliver has pursued a legacy of endurance and understanding of the power of storytelling to provide both solace and transcendence. His art is about the search for meaning in our lives – the stories we tell others and especially the stories we tell about ourselves.

Dr. John T. Biggers

John Thomas Biggers was an acclaimed muralist, painter, and draftsman that created works critical of racial, social, and economic injustice and whose prominence honored the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance. He joined the TSU faculty in 1949 and successfully lobbied the university to allow his students to paint murals on the walls of the administrative buildings, most of which are still echoing his legacy today.

Delita Martin

Delita Martin is an artist currently based in Huffman, Texas. She received a BFA in drawing from Texas Southern University and an MFA in printmaking from Purdue University. Martin’s goal is to create images as a visual language to tell the story of women that have often been marginalized, offering a different perspective of the lives of Black women.