How do murals tell a people’s story? Join Clark Atlanta University Art Museum Special Projects Curator Clarke Brown, and renowned art historian and Director of the University Museum at Texas Southern University, Dr. Alvia Wardlaw, for a conversation exploring the rich lineage of Black mural traditions, with a focus on artists John Biggers and Hale Woodruff.
This program centers the monumental murals featured in the At The Vanguard: Making and Saving History at HBCUs exhibition that highlights the importance of HBCUs in commissioning, collecting, and preserving Black art.

Together, they’ll explore how these legendary artists drew inspiration from the African diaspora and 20th-century Mexican muralism to create powerful visual histories centered on Black heritage. This discussion will explore the global influences that shaped their artistic practice and examine how these visionary artists used large-scale murals to communicate Black history.
The traveling exhibition, At the Vanguard, is a collaboration between the HBCU History and Culture Access Consortium initiative, the Smithsonian NMAAHC, and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES).