Dwight Smith was unpacking boxes. Bubble wrap and cardboard littered the floor of the Rosenthal Gallery at Fayetteville State University as he worked.
Smith, a professor of art at the university, was preparing the exhibit "Celebrating Heritage: Selections from the Hazel & John Biggers Collection" for display. The exhibit will be on display through Feb. 25.
"This is fantastic," Smith said as he pulled paintings from boxes last week. "I think it's a major coup for the institution to have the works of such a stellar artist on campus."
The exhibit, presented as part of the university's year-long sesquicentennial celebration, features about 22 of John Biggers' paintings and prints, along with a dozen by other African-American artists.
Together, the paintings present a picture of the African and African-American experience in the 1940s, '50s and beyond.
"John really got deep into the African aesthetic and culture," Smith said. "All of those things were critically important to him.''
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Born in 1924, John Biggers grew up in Gastonia. His father was a Baptist preacher and farmer, his mother was a housekeeper.
Pursuing art as a career, Biggers studied under African-American painter Charles White and sculptor Elizabeth Catlett, among others. After service in World War II, Biggers earned degrees in art from Pennsylvania State University. He married Hazel Hales of Fayetteville in 1948.
In 1949, Biggers accepted a position to establish an art department at the newly created Texas State University. He became known for his murals, and created several for display in African-American communities in Texas and elsewhere.
"He was a major muralist," Smith said. "He has created murals all over the country."
As his career progressed, Biggers became interested in African traditions, and made several trips to the continent. His work began to combine African images with those of the rural South where he grew up.
In 1993, the Fayetteville Museum of Art displayed 35 of Biggers' works in a show titled "John Biggers — Paintings and Drawings.'' Biggers, who moved back to Gastonia from Texas later in life, died in 2001 at age 76.
In a Fayetteville Observer story about the '93 exhibit, Biggers reflected on his inspiration as he prepared to move back to his native Gastonia from Houston.
"I'm interested in the land, animals, native things that grow, the changing of the seasons,'' he said. "I want to record what happens to them and continue to investigate nature. It inspires me daily.''
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Andretta Hales is John Biggers' niece. She remembers visiting him at his homes in Houston and Gastonia.
Hales smiles as she recalls the time she spent with him.
"He was a character. He loved sitting around laughing and talking," Hales said at the Rosenthal Gallery as the exhibit was being installed. "He had a playful, childlike spirit, a twinkle in his eye. He was fun to be around."
Hales said Biggers would instruct her on how to collect art, telling her to examine paintings over weeks or even years before deciding on a particular piece.
"What moves your spirit, what touches your soul. Never collect for the sole purpose of the item increasing in value," she said. "You might find yourself at a gallery, lingering at a particular painting ... you walk away from it, but that painting stays in your mind ... it should feel personal and you should feel passionate about it."
Smith met Biggers when he attended a conference of artists and art educators on a trip to Africa in the 1980s. He remembers Biggers' "gregarious personality" and how Biggers invited him on an art collecting expedition.
Smith said he begged off, a decision he regrets today.
"I was intimidated by half the artists on that trip," Smith said. "Here was this phenomenal artist, John Biggers, asking me to go somewhere with him."
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The works in the exhibition include portraits and abstracts, studies and finished works. Along with Biggers' art, the show includes works by Catlett, White, Lois Jones and other African-American artists.
Smith said many of Biggers' works utilize rhythmic, geometric patterns and recurring symbols common to African art. Other times, he pursued a more realistic style.
"I selected a kind of potpourri of works," Smith said.
Smith said he hopes the exhibit is a catalyst for establishing a permanent museum on the FSU campus. Fayetteville has been without a city art museum since the Fayetteville Museum of Art closed in 2010.
Watching her uncle's paintings being hung in the Rosenthal Gallery last week, Hales admitted to feeling "melancholy."
Hales said Hazel Biggers, who is 91 and still lives in Fayetteville, will be unable to attend the show because of poor health.
"As happy as I am about it, it makes me sad for the loss of John and Hazel's health," Hales said. "I love the collection, but it does bring mixed emotions."
Staff writer Rodger Mullen can be reached at rmullen@fayobserver.com or 486-3561.