The Downs-Jones Library at Huston-Tillotson University launched an Artists-in-Residence Program in Fall 2022. The program aimed to offer HT undergraduates a chance to use their creative skills to produce and showcase their work in public and digital spaces with the support of the Downs-Jones Library staff.

The objectives of the program were to emphasize the ongoing legacies of African American culture and education in the United States and to empower HT students to freely recreate literature, art, dance, and/or fashion. Students’ work reflected the work of influential figures recognized from the decades of the arts, music, and entertainment known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Students were also encouraged to depict day-to-day landscapes and atmospheres that existed in the 1920s and 1930s and recreate them with a modern-day presentation.

Students were invited to recreate material(s) chosen from the Library of Congress’ digital collections. They were also encouraged to use materials from HT’s archive. Artists made selections from one or two pieces from the collections that inspire them. They recreated or adapted a format of their choice and provided a multimedia-driven narrative around their work.

The final projects linked the chosen items, content areas, and the artist’s perspective. Finally, the artists’ work was presented on campus to the local community.

The online exhibit remains available through May of 2025.

Visit the Online Exhibit at thehtrenaissance.com!

• Applications were open to all HT undergraduates
• Activities took place in Fall 2022 (September – December)
• PAID! Participants $1,000 stipend
• Participants went on a fully funded trip to Washington, DC and the Library of Congress
• Artists’ work was shown in an on-campus and online exhibit
• Included
  • Software access
  • Use of camcorders, green screens, recording booth
  • Library work space
  • Creative process guide

• Manuscripts
• Dance Performance
• Photographs
• Correspondence
• Sound Recordings
• Playscript
• Novellas
• Music Scores
• Poetry
• Visual Art
• Documentary/Short Film

• American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writer’s Project, 1936-1940
• Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
• Fine Prints Collection
• Groups of Images
• Southern Mosaic: The John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip
• William P. Gottlieb: Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz
• Van Vechten Collection
• Zora Neale Hurston Plays

• Photographs
• Samuel Huston College and Tillotson College Student Newsletters
• Samuel Huston College and Tillotson College Yearbooks