Floyd Newsum’s works are in the permanent collections of the following museums: Studio Museum in Harlem; Smithsonian National Museum of African History and Culture, Washington DC, Philadelphia Museum of Arts; the David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland College Park; Museum of Fine Arts Houston; Library of Congress DC and other museums and public institutions.
Newsum’s career spans some 48 years as a visual artist. He received a MFA degree from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Newsum lives in Houston, Texas where he has worked as an artist and professor of art at the University of Houston Downtown. He is married to my lovely wife, Janice, and they have two successful professional young adult children.
Newsum has been in more than 108 solo and group exhibitions. His works have been displayed at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison Wisconsin, (MMOCA); Taft Museum, Cincinnati; The Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; The Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; The Polk Museum, Lakeland Florida; The David C. Driskell Center, Maryland; Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and many others across the United States. He has also exhibited at the Califia Gallery, Czech Republic, Horazdovice, and the American Center in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Floyd Newsum’s works are in the permanent collections of the following museums: Studio Museum in Harlem; Smithsonian National Museum of African History and Culture, Washington DC, Philadelphia Museum of Arts; the David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland College Park; Museum of Fine Arts Houston; Library of Congress DC and other museums and public institutions.
His works have been published in catalogs, books and magazines like “Outside the Lines”, published by the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, which illustrates the abstract art of American artists across the country. Presently Texas A&M Press is in contract to publish a book of 50 years of his work, with between 60-80 color images. Several essays will be written by curators and historians. Four of six essay writers include Valerie Cassell Oliver Senior curator of the VMFA, Alvia Wardlaw Director and Senior Curator of the TSU Art Museum, Maria C. Gaztambide of UH Public Art System and Melanee Harvey historian Howard University. Currently his works will be on exhibit at MMOCA in Madison Wisconsin, from May 19, 2023 through October 8, 2023.
The public art commissions completed by Newsum total six. Although he is a painter, four of the public art works were sculptures and one was a four-paneled painting. Newsum in 2022 installed a 38 foot by 16 foot relief commission for the lobby of the worship center of Wheeler Ave. Baptist Church. He believes that an artist should work in many mediums. As an artist he has created prints, drawings, and sculptures. He is known for paintings on paper, and is one of seven founders of Project Row Houses.
Although his professional career spans more than four decades, his involvement with the creative arts dates back to his early school years. Art is more than a profession; it is his passion.