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John Biggers Murals
Monuments on Campus
Dr. John T. Biggers was recruited to found Texas Southern University’s art department in 1949. The acclaimed muralist, painter, and draftsman taught at TSU as he rose to international acclaim. He successfully lobbied university administration to allow his students to paint murals on the walls of Hannah Hall. In addition to supporting his students's muralism, Dr. Biggers painted three murals on Texas Southern University's campus.
Web of Life, John T. Biggers, 1957-1959
Dr. Biggers completed work on Web of Life in 1959 after returning from his UNESCO fellowship in West Africa. Originally installed in the Samuel M. Nabrit Science Building on Texas Southern’s campus, it is now located in the University Museum. Mother Nature is at the center of this work, surrounded by embryos and skeletons, animals and fish, and men and women. It speaks to the interconnectedness of life.
Texas Southern University students commissioned Biggers to paint Family Unity in the cafeteria of the student center. Composed of several distinct but interrelated images, this mural features several Afrocentric motifs that Biggers developed, including sacred geometry (checkerboards and spirals), shotgun houses, and husband-and-wife pairs. At the center is what Biggers called the “morning star,” which shows a couple embracing with their form suggesting a womb.
Biggers and Harvey Johnson, a former TSU art professor and student of Dr. Biggers, painted this mural in the lobby of the Jesse H. Jones School of Business. It speaks to the history of commerce and the wealth of Africa. NUBIA is full of visual symbols drawn from African art, including ceremonial combs, gold weights, and several meaningful animals, like the hippo, buzzard, sacred ibis, double crocodile, spider, tortoise, and more.
Interested in seeing the murals? Fill out this form to schedule a tour: https://forms.gle/G93AxXGZoKL3bAxn9.
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