Creating Art Collections at HBCUs
Clark Atlanta and Texas Southern Universities
It is because of HBCUs that the legacies of Black visual art have survived and thrived. Texas Southern University (TSU) and Clark Atlanta University (CAU) teach their students to believe in artistic expression. The collections of artwork at HBCU museums make them an essential resource for the world.
Clark Atlanta University Art Museum
Atlanta University students conduct research at Trevor Arnett Library, where the Art of the Negro mural is displayed, ca. 1955.
Hale Woodruff painting at Atlanta University
Atlanta University was founded in 1865 as the first American university to award graduate degrees to African American students. Clark College was founded in 1869 as the first four-year liberal arts college with a majority African American student body. In 1988, Clark College joined Atlanta University to create Clark Atlanta University (CAU). CAU shares resources with other local HBCUs through the Atlanta University Center, a consortium including Morehouse and Spelman Colleges.
Atlanta University began collecting and exhibiting art in 1942. Today, Clark Atlanta University Art Museum (CAUAM) has more than 1,200 African American and African diaspora works of art. Hale Woodruff’s Art of the Negro mural hangs in the museum’s atrium, and CAUAM offers artist residencies, art exhibitions, and educational programs.
Art of the Negro by Hale Woodruff
Art department founder Hale Woodruff left Atlanta University in 1946. His legacy is literally painted on the walls. From 1950 to 1951, the artist created what he considered to be his best mural, Art of the Negro, for the university’s library. Consisting of six twelve-by-twelve-foot paintings, the work connects African Americans to their mixed ancestry and artistic heritage through art. Woodruff hoped students and visitors would be inspired to want to learn more.
The Atlanta Annuals Opened a Door for Black Artists
During the first half of the 1900s, Black visual artists had few places to show their work. But in 1942, Atlanta University art professor Hale Woodruff convinced the university to establish an annual juried art competition called the Exhibition of Paintings by Negro Artists of America. Known as the Atlanta Art Annuals, the competition ran for nearly 30 years, attracting 3,450 entries by nearly 900 artists.
Awards for sculpture, print, and other art mediums were added later. The Atlanta Art Annuals helped launch the careers of African American artists and helped establish the legitimacy of Black artistic expression.
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Atlanta Annuals Featured in One Tenth of a Nation
In 1954, the American Newsreel Company produced a film series called One Tenth of a Nation. The series documented African American achievements and contributions to the United States. The film’s section on art features the Atlanta Annuals and African American artists.
In the early 70s … I end up down south and there’s this magnificent trove of incredible work by African American artists that these museums and curators [in New York] know virtually nothing about.
Tina Dunkley, artist and founding curator of Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, 2019
Building the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum Collection
Purchases from the Atlanta Art Annuals (1942–1970) were one way the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum (CAUAM) acquired its collection of 1,200 works. Beyond the Annuals, the museum has received significant donations from private collectors, artist estates, and other institutions. The museum makes strategic art purchases and collects Black regional, local, and global artists. CAUAM’s mission is to collect, preserve, research, and exhibit artworks that document African American achievement.
The University Museum at Texas Southern University
Art department at Texas Southern University
Students view an exhibition at the University Museum at Texas Southern University, 2023
Texas Southern University was originally founded in 1927 as Houston Colored Junior College in Houston’s historically Black Third Ward. In 1947, the state of Texas established it as Texas State College for Negroes to prevent the desegregation of the University of Texas. The school was renamed Texas Southern University in 1951.
With its motto “Excellence in Achievement,” TSU is now one of Texas’s most culturally diverse institutions, known for its award-winning debate team and dynamic “Ocean of Soul” marching band.
TSU created its University Museum in 2000, specializing in African American and African diasporic art. Artist John Biggers helped build its gallery of traditional African art, and the museum collects the work of Texas Southern alumni —part of what sets it apart.
Nurturing Black Cultural Expression at TSU
Artists John Biggers and Carroll Harris Simms transformed TSU’s art department into a center for art training and art education. Graduates often return to teach and share their views on how identity shapes art.
Delita Martin’s The Seeker
Delita Martin is a nationally known TSU graduate. Her work links identity to a spirit world through portraits layered with patterns, like the ginkgo leaf mask in The Seeker.
Murals: Revolution on the Wall
Bold, bright, and strikingly large, murals reveal complex artistic histories and legacies. At Texas Southern University, muralist John Biggers sparked a lasting student-made mural tradition. At Atlanta University, Hale Woodruff's The Art of the Negro inspired many artists to follow in his footsteps.
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The image includes graphic and violent imagery.
The History of the Negro in Education. Abe Washington, 1952.
Artists in Residence
Guia Elípica. Wilay Méndez Paez, 2018.
Untitled. Franck Kemkeng Noah, 2023.
HBCU museums also sustain the arts and nurture Black artists through their residency programs. At Clark Atlanta University and Texas Southern University, visiting artists exhibit their work on campus, mentor students, and use classrooms and studio spaces. Artists are given time and space to learn, experiment, and explore how Black identity shapes their artistic practice.
Photography: Committed to the Image
Photographers who work or trained at HBCUs took many of the photographs featured in At the Vanguard. They capture the energy and excitement infusing the culture of HBCUs —homecoming, student clubs, visiting VIPs. Many of these photographers have built successful careers and have had their work collected by major American museums.
What Is the Future of Art at HBCUs?
Students view an exhibition at the University Museum at Texas Southern, 2023
HBCU art museums comprise only a fraction of the over 650 university museums in the United States, but their relevance is strong. They make it possible for the historically high enrollment of Black students at these schools to view and study Black art. They also train new generations of museum professionals. The exhibitions they produce and host enrich understandings of American art.