Texas Southern University

          Erma Gordon’s mural, Awakening, is a self-portrait of sorts. In the left panel of the mural, an oversized hand holds a man, woman, and child. The left side of the right panel shows the artist at work creating various types of artworks. She is seen creating a terracotta sculpture, throwing pots on a wheel, and weaving with a large loom. In the foreground, the artist’s right profile is visible, and she holds a magnifying glass, which reveals a zoomed-in view of a shell or bone of some sort. In the upper right corner she is standing and drawing on an easel. A wispy, transparent fabric runs through all parts of the mural, tying them all together. This same motif appears in a self-portrait Gordon painted as a student.

          Gordon’s mural reflects on her time as an art student at Texas Southern University and pays homage to her various teachers. She paints herself creating a terracotta sculpture of a bison, which she completed as a student of Professor Carroll Harris Simms as a graduation requirement. Her terracotta is now proudly displayed in the University Museum at Texas Southern. Simms, likewise, instructed her on pottery and how to throw on a wheel. Gordon also shows herself weaving at a loom, a skill which she would have learned under the instruction of Professor Theresa Allen. Lastly, her depiction of herself drawing, and this mural itself, are reflections of her time learning under Dr. John T. Biggers.

This program is made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.