The Southern University Museum of Art, on the campus of the Southern University System in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, opened its doors on March 9, 2001, welcoming the faculty, staff, and students of the university as well as the local and national community. The museum, located in the renovated Martin L. Harvey Hall, is on the bluffs of the Mississippi River in an area designated as a National Historic District in May of 2000. The museum is dedicated to: maintaining a standard of excellence in the care and collection of its art and artifacts; inviting research by faculty and students; educating school children; and maintaining an excellent cultural exchange with the community at large. The museum has an extensive collection of the work of African American artists who have received both local and national acclaim and owns a burgeoning collection of African art and artifacts from the major art producing regions of the African continent.
The mission of the Southern University Museum of Art (SUMA) is: To assure that the art, artifacts, and other treasured works of Africans, African-Americans and their descendants are accessible to the community in an organized and cherished collection, in a place of historic significance on Southern University System campuses.
Voices of Freedom
The “Voices of Freedom” presentation (Narratives of the lives of ex-slaves and abolitionists of the Underground Railroad) has been presented Around the state and in Mississippi. University Personnel adopt the lives of slaves and abolitionists and narrate their lives in first person presentations as images of these slaves and abolitionists are displayed in the background.
