Soul & Spirit: Two Hundred Years of Art from the Hampton University Museum

Occupying four permanent galleries in the Museum's new gallery space, the Huntington Building, this exhibition chronicles the history of African American art and features works of art from the earliest African American painter whose work is extant (Joshua Johnson) to works by such contemporary artists as John Biggers, Elizabeth Catlett, and Jacob Lawrence. The Museum is the only institution in the nation to have such an exhibition on permanent display.

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"Bear Claw Necklace"
1911

Enduring Legacy: Native Peoples, Native Arts at Hampton

On Sunday, March 28, 1999, the Hampton University Museum unveiled its historic collection of American Indian art and artifacts in a new, permanent installation, Enduring Legacy: Native Peoples, Native Arts at Hampton. The public opening for the exhibition was held from noon to 4 p.m.; festivities included informal Q&A sessions with descendants of Hampton's early Native American students and performances by a Native American drum group and dancers. Admission to the Museum is free.

"Enduring Legacy offers a wonderful opportunity to share with the public objects that have not been exhibited for many years," observes Mary Lou Hultgren, the Museum's curator of collections. "This includes a selection of finely crafted basketry and exceptional examples of beadwork. What makes so many of the objects in the exhibition especially interesting is the fact that they have excellent documentation. Another important aspect of this exhibition is that so many of the objects that will be on view were used as teaching resources for Hampton's students. The exhibition includes numerous historical photographs of native students, including several images of students actually wearing the objects on exhibition in plays and pageants produced at Hampton. All of these factors combine to provide visitors to this permanent exhibition with a unique opportunity to learn about native art and native people at Hampton."

"The Native lives represented in Hampton's historic American Indian program are a testament to the beauty, strength, and tenacity of the cultures to which they belong," notes Dr. Paulette Molin (Minnesota Chippewa), co-curator of the exhibition. "Although a numerical minority, the students transcended their small numbers and the brief, 45-year time span of the program to extend an influence that reverberates today. For Native Americans, the multifaceted impact of the boarding school era, of which Hampton's program is a part, is complex and generational. These stories are critical to our understanding of an important chapter in the history of this country."

Enduring Legacy: Native Peoples, Native Arts at Hampton is a testimony to both the valuable heritage and continuing influence of Hampton's early American Indian students. We are pleased and honored to share this wonderful collection with our visitors through a new, permanent installation."

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The Art of Africa: Power, Beauty, Community

Hampton University Museum's African Collection - the finest at any African American museum or educational institution in the United States-is once more on view in The Art of Africa: Power, Beauty, Community. This dazzling exhibition of over 200 artifacts from across sub-Saharan Africa is now open in the newly renovated Huntington Building, in the heart of the historic Hampton University campus!

The Art of Africa includes not only objects from the Museum's historic collections, but also a number of pieces that the Museum has acquired since the 1960's. Approximately half of the objects on display have never before been exhibited at Hampton!

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