Project Row Houses founder and pillar of arts community Floyd Newsum has died, non-profit says

Floyd Newsum , a pillar of the Houston arts community and one of the founders of Project Row Houses , has died, the non-profit shared on Facebook .

"Our hearts have cracked wide open learning that our dear founder Floyd Newsum has gone to be with the ancestors," the post said in part. It didn't share how Newsum died or his age.

A professor at the University of Houston - Downtown, Newsum was a seasoned visual artist known for prints, drawings and sculptures.

His 2023 exhibition, " Evolution of Sight ," spanned six themes: Social justice and Community; Angels and Souls; Women, family and ancestors; Sirigu and transcendence; Land, sea and dance; and Contemplation.

His career spanned 50 years, with his art known on a national stage.

In 2016, ABC13 anchor Melanie Lawson interviewed Newsum after his piece "After the Storm CNN" debuted at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, as part of a permanent collection.

Newsum has explained that the work shows some of the displacement of the people after Katrina, but also features ladders, a symbol of hope, second chance and renewal.

He was one of a handful of Houstonians to donate to the museum.

"The whole idea of me being a part of this historical event is just overwhelming. The museum, in its scale of things that are there, it's just unbelievable," Newsum told ABC13. "I was shocked because it's the third painting when I got to the gallery. It's up front. You can't miss it."

From 2016: ABC13's Melanie Lawson interviews Floyd Newsum after his painting was selected to be a permanent part of the National Museum of African American History in Washington, DC.

Art Professor, Floyd Newsum, discusses the selection of one of his paintings to be a permanent part of the National Museum of African American History

Born in 1950, Newsum earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, but made an indelible mark in Houston.

In 1993, he was one of seven African American artists behind Project Row Houses. The shotgun houses at the corner of Holman and Live Oak have grown to become a home to arts and the community in the Third Ward.

Just last weekend, Newsum helped Project Row Houses celebrate its 31st anniversary.

Another recent appearance included an "Artists in Dialogue" conversation at the Museum of Fine Arts - Houston in June.

In addition, his work has been seen at other museums across the country and internationally, including in Ohio, Louisiana, New York, Maryland, Florida, the Czech Republic and Russia, according to his website.

But perhaps his biggest legacy is how he worked with students and the next generation.

"Last year, Floyd joined Project Row Houses to lead a group of Third Ward high school students on an art-filled trip to Washington, D.C. Several of the teens recognized him only as Mr. Floyd, a deacon from their church," Project Row Houses wrote on Facebook. "Their amazement when they realized, standing in front of Floyd's painting in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History & Culture, that the man they knew from church and his gentle guidance as a chaperone was an artist whose work hung in the nation's capitol cannot be described."

The organization named its Summer Studios program for Newsum just this year.

Newsum is survived by his wife Janice and two children.

Watch: How Project Row Houses is transforming a community

See how Project Row Houses is transforming Houston's Third Ward through art!