Houston honors the legacy of visionary artist Floyd Newsum

Hundreds filled the pews of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church’s sanctuary Tuesday morning to commemorate the life and legacy of Floyd Newsum, a visionary artist, former University of Houston Downtown professor and one of the founders, known as the “Magnificent Seven,” of Project Row Houses in Third Ward.

Newsum died unexpectedly Aug. 14, shocking many throughout Houston’s art community and beyond. He was 73. The cause of his death has not been disclosed. 

“Throughout all the halls of UHD where Floyd Newsum taught for 48 years, the word I’ve most often heard over the last week or so is heartbroken. After so many years, his missing presence still seems unreal,” said Mark Cervenka, a former colleague of Newsum and professor of art at UHD. 

Newsum is known nationally for his paintings, drawings, sculptures and public art projects, including two Houston Metro Light Rail Station art designs and seven sculptures for the Main Street Square Station between Dallas and McKinney Streets.

His work has also been exhibited in more than 103 exhibitions in museums and galleries across the U.S., such as the Taft Museum in Cincinnati, the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, and the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, according to PRH. His work has also been shown in prestigious permanent collections, such as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

While Newsum’s reputation as a renowned artist is undeniable, friends, family, former UHD colleagues, fellow deacons and clergy at Wheeler where he served for 22 years, painted a more holistic portrait. They spoke to his joy as a beloved husband of 51 years, a devoted father, faithful deacon, consummate professor, mentor, martial artist, and a friend, but also his playful demeanor and colorful personality, which was often demonstrated in his humor and fashion. 

“This cat could dress. He could dress up a pair of paint covered jeans and look like he should be going to the ball,” said Brian Rollins, a longtime friend who served along with Newsum as a deacon at Wheeler. 

“Everybody loved Floyd, like Raymond.”

While many wore traditional black attire, his family wore a variety of colors to honor Newsum, who loved colors. His son, Floyd Emahn Newsum, wore blue, which was his father’s favorite color, he said. He acknowledged how serious and somber the occasion was, but said he couldn’t help to think what his father would say if he saw everyone wearing black. 

“I can just imagine, you know, that my dad would say something like, ‘Well, you know, actually, they honored me because, you know, black absorbs all of the colors,’” he said among a reverberating burst of laughter.

“‘Everybody is wearing all the colors for me.’”

‘Just Floyd’

What Rollins and many others marveled at most was his optimism, humility and service-oriented attitude. 

“The ability to see people, to listen, extended beyond the classroom for Floyd,” Cervenka said. 

“I can’t recall an instance when I didn’t see Floyd greet an attendant in a cafe, a clerk at Starbucks, an administrator, faculty or staff member or a new student worker in the department office, when he wasn’t polite and appreciative of their work. Floyd’s growing national reputation as an artist, and his long tenure at UHD suggested a level of respect from many coworkers who addressed Floyd Newsum as Professor Newsum. But when people said Professor Newsum, he would say, ‘No, I’m just Floyd. Call me Floyd’ to everyone.”

What has stood out as most poignant to Cervenka is the constant outpouring of messages from Newsum’s students past and present who are struggling to grapple with the news of his death.

Michael Martin is one of those who is still in shock. Martin, a former student of Newsum’s who now works as a visual arts instructor at MECA Houston, a community-based nonprofit dedicated to arts and cultural programming in underserved communities, credits Newsum for teaching him how to empower himself as an artist fulltime and the importance of teaching the arts. 

“He was a real teacher. He wasn’t just like a teacher from 9 to 5, he was a teacher through and through,” Martin said in an interview with the Landing shortly after Newsum’s passing. 

“He didn’t just teach you about painting, he taught you about how to be a better person, which most people don’t expect when they take an art class.”

Pastor Marcus Cosby officiated the service and closed with the message of how Newsum lived a noteworthy and purposeful life. 

“It’s interesting whether you knew his name or not, you knew him for his works,” Cosby said. “You knew him for his contributions. You knew him for the investments that he made. You knew him for that smile. You knew him for being a positive light in your life.”

Cosby encouraged attendees to emulate Newsum — someone who amid his countless accolades could be easily overlooked because he didn’t spotlight himself. Instead Newsum would bring breakfast from his home to people in need while cycling through the city, wash the feet of homeless and indigent people downtown, drive a church shuttle to escort churchgoers from the parking lot to the front door, and in his staple paint-ridden jeans, would always seek to bless others, Cosby said. 

“Floyd Newsum had it going on for a long time, for an extended period of time. And if you did not know, you probably never would have known,” he said. 

“Floyd Newsum was the man, but he handled it in such a way that he gave glory to God. He did not promote himself.”

“You got some artists who are so self-absorbed that you don’t see the art, you just see them. … But when you have both harmoniously merged, it becomes a piece that transcends time,” said Fifth Ward artist, Joseph Halcomb, who helped install Newsum’s piece at Project Row Houses last year.

As the nearly two-hour service wrapped, Cosby instructed attendees to comply with Newsum’s one wish at his service: to celebrate and engage with his large 16-by-38 foot  “Grace and Mercy” plexiglass piece that adorns the atrium of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. 

“He was just determined to bring art to life,” said Algenita Davis, a longtime church member, Houston philanthropist and entrepreneur.

“His legacy is his inspiration for students, his inspiration of people who are interested in art and the utilization of art to make life better.”

Algenita Davis holds a seat on the Houston Landing’s board of directors. Davis had no influence on decisions related to the reporting and publishing of this article. The Landing’s ethics policy and list of financial supporters are available online.

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