NTCC Administrator to Present ‘The John Biggers Mural: A Legacy in Art and Diversity’
Dr. Ron Clinton, executive vice president for instruction at Northeast Texas Community College, will present “The John Biggers Mural: A Legacy in Art and Diversity,” a Texas A&M University-Texarkana Program for Learning and Community Engagement SuperLecture, on Thursday, April 20, at 12:30 p.m.
The lecture will originate from the Humanities Building Community Room on the Northeast Texas Community College campus in Mount Pleasant and will be livestreamed in University Center 235 on the A&M-Texarkana campus.
The event is free and open to the public.
In May 2016, the NTCC Foundation received a $10,000 gift from the East Texas Communities Foundation and the Burt and Nancy Marans Estate to begin restoring a 1955 mural by Dr. John Biggers, which is being relocated from Pewitt Elementary School in Omaha, Texas, to the Charlie and Helen Hampton Learning Resource Center at NTCC.
After the mural’s restoration is completed in Dallas, it will be displayed at the Tyler Museum of Art before being moved to the NTCC campus for public display along with other pieces from the college’s collection of Dr. Biggers’ works.
Dr. Biggers is a well-known, highly respected African American artist, muralist, author and lecturer who passed away in 2001. With the addition of the mural, NTCC will be home to the largest known collection of Biggers’ artwork.
Dr. Clinton joined the NTCC faculty when the college opened in 1985, teaching music, humanities and philosophy before joining the administrative team. Prior to his time at NTCC, Dr. Clinton performed extensively throughout the United States, Asia and South America as a concert pianist, appearing as guest soloist with symphony orchestras in Houston, Austin, Lubbock, South America and the Republic of South Korea. He received his doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin in piano performance where he studied with William Race and performed in master classes with such notable artists as Augustin Anievas, Claude Frank, Anton Kuerti and Leon Fleisher.
In addition to his work at NTCC, Dr. Clinton has also served as “artist in residence” at Mokwon University in Taejon, South Korea, and has been a faculty member at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Southern Chile in Valdivia, Chile. His solo and chamber music performances have been recorded and broadcast over PBS stations throughout the United States.
