Levi Watkins Learning Center
The LWLC is the library of Alabama State University. Our mission is to provide opportunities for cultural expression, learning, and research.
MessageCollection: NAAHBCU Art Legacy Project
From the NAAHBCU Founder
We are pleased and very excited to share with you a portion of the excellent collection of fine art that is now in the permanent collection of the National Center at Alabama State University. The artwork was created by artists from the National Alliance of Artists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (NAAHBCU). Since the earliest part of the 18th century, Black colleges and universities have been the focal point of intellectual growth, and the caretakers of African American history and culture by maintaining a creative atmosphere. Cheyney in Pennsylvania, founded in 1852, is listed as the oldest HBCU. The first major public collection of African-American art was probably housed at Hampton Institute Museum, now Hampton University in Virginia. Founded in 1868, Hampton carried the distinction of having the only art gallery of Black colleges for more than 40 years when its gallery opened in 1928.
The NAAHBCU is deeply honored to contribute to the Art Legacy Project at Alabama State University under the leadership of Dr. Janice Franklin, Project Director of the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture (National Center) at Alabama State University and Dean of the Levi Watkins Learning Center (LWLC). As of 2022, there are ninety-nine historical Black colleges that are scattered throughout the United States of America. The NAAHBCU is the second largest and most active Black arts organization in America with an excess of more than sixty practicing artists from Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Illinois, and several more states. We continue to maintain a network with HBCU art departments and programs.
Our long-range goal has been to bring artists and art education to the forefront of American art and to keep art programs as institutional priorities for generations to come. The majority of the artwork in this collection was created by artists that received training, taught at an HBCU, or were artists-in-residence at one of the HBCUs. We hope you enjoy the collection.
Dr. Lee A. Ransaw, Professor Emeritus at Morris Brown College
Co-Founder of the National Alliance of Artists from HBCUs
We are pleased and very excited to share with you a portion of the excellent collection of fine art that is now in the permanent collection of the National Center at Alabama State University. The artwork was created by artists from the National Alliance of Artists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (NAAHBCU). Since the earliest part of the 18th century, Black colleges and universities have been the focal point of intellectual growth, and the caretakers of African American history and culture by maintaining a creative atmosphere. Cheyney in Pennsylvania, founded in 1852, is listed as the oldest HBCU. The first major public collection of African-American art was probably housed at Hampton Institute Museum, now Hampton University in Virginia. Founded in 1868, Hampton carried the distinction of having the only art gallery of Black colleges for more than 40 years when its gallery opened in 1928.
The NAAHBCU is deeply honored to contribute to the Art Legacy Project at Alabama State University under the leadership of Dr. Janice Franklin, Project Director of the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture (National Center) at Alabama State University and Dean of the Levi Watkins Learning Center (LWLC). As of 2022, there are ninety-nine historical Black colleges that are scattered throughout the United States of America. The NAAHBCU is the second largest and most active Black arts organization in America with an excess of more than sixty practicing artists from Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Illinois, and several more states. We continue to maintain a network with HBCU art departments and programs.
Our long-range goal has been to bring artists and art education to the forefront of American art and to keep art programs as institutional priorities for generations to come. The majority of the artwork in this collection was created by artists that received training, taught at an HBCU, or were artists-in-residence at one of the HBCUs. We hope you enjoy the collection.
Dr. Lee A. Ransaw, Professor Emeritus at Morris Brown College
Co-Founder of the National Alliance of Artists from HBCUs
