Texas Southern University

          Jesse Sifuentes’ mural, titled Family Scene, emphasizes the importance of the family unit. His mural is painted in a geometric style, and features multiple generations of a family posed in different embraces. To the left, mothers and daughters hug each other, with a deceased grandmother hovering above with angel wings. Towards the middle of the mural there is another family facing away from the viewer. Below this group, a few turtles walk across the scene. There is also a serpent sneaking towards the foreground at the bottom of the mural. On the right, children and grandparents embrace while a tree extends over their shoulders towards the middle of the painting.

          Sifuentes’ mural’s subject matter is a reflection of his experience learning under John T. Biggers. Sifuentes says that Dr. Biggers placed a strong emphasis on the significance of the family, and that this was influential on his mural. Sifuentes also borrows from Biggers’ visual language in using turtles or tortoises to symbolize longevity and wisdom. He relates the turtles to the elders depicted in the painting to tie in how elders hand down knowledge, oral histories, and cultures to subsequent generations. The artist also includes crops like corn and pumpkin, both of which are significant in Mexican culinary tradition. He also chose to include a serpent to signify the hidden threats to the stability and unity of any family.

          Murals are a special medium for Sifuentes. In his own words, “murals are the pen to artists,” but they also, unlike pieces held in private collections, “belong to the public.” Years after he painted this mural as a student, Jesse Sifuentes became an art professor at Texas Southern University. He taught a variety of courses including ceramics, sculpture, and mural painting up until his retirement in 2022. This meant that Sifuentes was teaching courses that were, when he was a student, taught by icons of the TSU art department Professor Carroll Harris Simms and Dr. John T. Biggers, a responsibility which he did not take lightly. Professor Sifuentes has created a variety of murals and public art projects throughout Houston.

Learn more:

Virtual tour of TSU Hannah Hall Murals | United Way Women's Initiative. (youtube.com) - see 27:40

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