Houston Public Library’s African American Library at the Gregory School is honored to present Dr. Alvia Wardlaw, Director of the University Museum at Texas Southern University as guest speaker for its “Lunch with a Legacy” series, as part of “The Whole World Was Watching” Library program.
The community is invited to hear Dr. Wardlaw’s discusses her experiences of confronting racism as a student on the campus of Wellesley College in Massachusetts and how she became one of the founders of Ethos, a black student organization at the college.
This program is free and open to the public.
WHEN: Saturday, April 16, 2011 at 12 Noon
WHERE: The Houston Public Library African American Library at the Gregory School, 1300 Victor Street, 77019, in Freedmen’s Town, Fourth Ward, 832-393-1440.
About Dr. Alvia Wardlaw
Dr. Wardlaw grew up in Houston’s historic Third Ward neighborhood. She graduated from Jack Yates High School and went on to attend Wellesley College. In 1969, she earned a B.A. in art history. In 1989, Dr. Wardlaw was recognized as one of the leading African-American art historians in the country when she was co-curator with Barry Gaither and Dr. Regena Perry of the watershed exhibition “Black Art Ancestral Legacy: The African Impulse in African American Art” for the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas. The catalogue for this exhibition has become widely used in the art curriculums of colleges and universities in the United States. In 1995, Dr. Wardlaw organized “The Art of John Biggers: View from the Upper Room” for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which traveled nationally to seven venues. In 1996, she became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Texas at Austin. Her dissertation focused on the art of John Biggers. “The Quilts of Gee’s Bend,” a collection of quilts by outstanding quilters from Alabama, an exhibit she coordinated traveled to 11 cities across the country from 2002-2006. Reviewers described the exhibit as “landmark” and “highly acclaimed” and it broke attendance records at major museums.
The list of honors and awards bestowed on Dr. Wardlaw include: Texas Southern University Research Scholar of the Year, 2009, African American Living Legend: African American News and Issues, 2008, Ethos Founders Award, Wellesley College, 2008, International Association of Art Critics Award for The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, 2003, Fulbright Award for study in East Africa, 1997, Texas Women’s Hall of Fame, 1994, The Margaret Hawkins National Arts Award, The Links, Inc., 1992, Best Exhibition of 1990 Black Art Ancestral Legacy, D. Magazine, Dallas, 1990, and Fulbright Fellow, West Africa: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal, 1984.Currently, Dr. Wardlaw is an Associate Professor of Art History at Texas Southern University and Director/Curator of the University Museum at Texas Southern University.
