Black Leaders: Texans for Their Times Page: 218
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Black Leaders
quent letters he received at this time was from Jean Lacy, painter and
sculptor associated with the Dallas Museum, which concluded:
"We as artists and prophets must continue to confront a deper-
sonalizing world by refusing to be depersonalized by it. We must find
meaning and importance in this terrible act and use it for our own
productivity and expression and, yes, survival.
"There are many walls yet to be conquered."
Biggers found some small comfort in the fact that most of the
destoryed murals had already been photographed for reproduction in
Black Art in Houston. The Texas Southern University Experience,
written by Biggers and Simms with the editorial assistance ofJohn Ed-
ward Weems and published by Texas A&M University Press in 1978.
This lavishly illustrated book, much of it in full color, is an inspiring
record of the work of Biggers, Simms, and their students throughout
the years of the making of their "shrine."
In addition to Black Art in Houston, the late 1970s brought
other memorable experiences to John Biggers. Nearing completion
now is his most ambitious mural (in the TSU Student Life Center),
which measures fifteen feet high by sixty-two feet long. Biggers's style
in this mural is freer and more impresssionistic than in other murals.
The theme is "family unity" and reflects the artist's longheld belief
that the family is the most important unity in a democratic society.
Simultaneously John Biggers is working on a mural for the inter-
nationally known Houston Music Hall, a commission approved by the
City Art Commission and by the mayor and city council. Seven-by-
twenty-one feet in size, it is being painted on canvas and will be in-
stalled in the foyer of the Music Hall. Titled The Rites of Passage, it
depicts the progress of man through birth, baptism, childhood,
adolescence, maturity, old age, and finally "passage" to another life.
It is a visual interpretation of Negro spirituals.
Also in the same foyer will stand a ten-foot tall sculpture, Guitar
Solo by Carroll Simms.
In January, 1980, two major retrospective shows of Biggers's
work opened almost simultaneously. One, containing seventy pieces,
was at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio. The other, of
forty pieces, was at Laguna Gloria Art Museum in Austin.
In the fall of 1978 John Biggers's native state of North Carolina
honored him in ways which touched him deeply. In Raleigh, Gover-218
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Barr, Alwyn & Calvert, Robert A. Black Leaders: Texans for Their Times, book, 2007; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth296839/m1/229/?q=1966+yearbook+north+texas+state+university: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.