A Living Artchive · Fall 2026

The Journey Never Ends

An evergreen exhibition in perpetual motion — pairing the late Floyd Newsum Jr.'s (1950–2024) art archive, located in Houston, Texas, USA, with a traveling iteration currently circling the globe aboard the MV Odyssey (September–December 2026).

"𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒆𝒓𝒂..."— Floyd Newsum Jr. (1950–2024, quoted 2023)
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The Artist & Legacy

Floyd Newsum Jr.

"Art is a critical part of my life that I cannot divorce. What inspires me now is to continue to share what I do with the world … What inspires me is that it's not over, it is the beginning of a new era…" — Floyd Newsum Jr. (1950–2024, quoted 2023)

Painter, beloved educator, cultural anchor, and cofounder of Project Row Houses, Newsum taught for 48 years at the University of Houston–Downtown, shaping generations of Houston artists before his passing in 2024. The Journey Never Ends takes its title and point of departure from his 2005 oil-and-acrylic-on-paper painting of the same name ↗, expanding it into a living artchive: part exhibition, part classroom, part voyage.

Recent Exhibitions (Articles 📰 & Virtual Tours 🧭)

Jun – Aug 2026 [Group] — 📰 Bayou City Stewards: America from Our Perspective, Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC) ↗

Feb – Sep 2026 [Group] — 📰 "Memphis College of Art, 1936–2020: An Enduring Legacy," Memphis Brooks Museum of Art ↗

Sep 2025 – Feb 2026 [Solo] — 🧭 "Cadence of Light: Signal, Surface, Field," La Colombe d'Or Hotel ↗

Oct 2025 – Jan 2026 [Group] — 📰 "Black Artists in America: From the Bicentennial to September 11," Crocker Art Museum ↗

Feb – Apr 2025 [Solo] — 🧭 "House of Grace," Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Memphis ↗

May – Oct 2023 [Solo] — 🧭 "Evolution of Sight," Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) ↗

FULL ARTIST BIOGRAPHY ↗
The Exhibit

Three Acts. One Living Archive.

Anchored in Houston, Texas and unfolding at sea aboard the MV Odyssey, the exhibition traces artistic lineage as a visible form of beauty — and the transmission of knowledge as a work of art.

ACT I

Untitled Art Fair (HOU '26)

A curated exhibition pairing works from Newsum's art archive with pieces by his students — and their students — arranged as a scholarly genealogy tracing mentorship across five decades.

Read the Untitled Art Fair press release ↗

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ACT II

Traveling Collection

A traveling collection ↗ of selected works from the Floyd Newsum Jr. Artwork Studio Archive, sailing to 11+ countries across four continents from September through December 2026. Historical footage, artist reflections, and video feeds connect the land-based exhibition with its traveling counterpart aboard the MV Odyssey.

Follow the Art Around the World ↗
ACT III

Archive Tours

Public engagement through artist-archive workshops, guided tours of the Newsum art archive at UHD, and exclusive VIP receptions and art talks in select global art centers, including Houston and Hong Kong.

Schedule an Archive Tour ↗Artworks on wooden racks inside the Floyd Newsum Jr. art archive
Live Voyage Tracker

Follow the Art Around the World

The traveling collection sails aboard the MV Odyssey from IJmuiden, Netherlands, to Bangkok, Thailand, during the Fall 2026 voyage. Explore the timeline or select a port to see where the art is now.

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IJmuiden · Sep 09Bangkok · Dec 22

Download the Traveling Collection Itinerary

Get the full, printable one-page schedule — every port, date, and note from IJmuiden, Netherlands to Bangkok, Thailand.

We'll never share your email. It's used only to send the itinerary and occasional voyage updates.

Voyage Journal

Dispatches From Abroad

Video posts and a monthly newsletter: journey with the Estate and the traveling collection at home and abroad. COMING SOON.

Presented By

Partner Organizations

The Floyd Newsum Jr. Art Estate, in partnership with:

Wheeler Avenue Baptist ChurchWheeler Avenue Baptist Church
University of Houston–Downtown
Project Row Houses
Houston Museum of African American Culture
Bond Contemporary