Professor Carroll Harris Simms was a master ceramicist, sculptor, and jeweller. He worked alongside Dr. John T. Biggers to establish Texas Southern University's art department as a hub for Black artists in the South. This collection contains several of his ceramic works.
Curated By
Ben Schachter
Rita Reyes
Contributing Institution
Texas Southern University
About This Record
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Pictured here, left to right, are Texas Southern art alumni Bert Samples, John C. Davis, Harvey Johnson, Leon Renfro, former art student Rickey Donato, and Professor Carroll Harris Simms walking on the campus of TSU. Johnson and Renfro would later go on to teach art at TSU.
This small ceramic plate created by Carroll Harris Simms is made from red clay with a white, bubbling glaze. It has slightly raised, curved edges. Simms worked alongside Dr. John T. Biggers to build Texas Southern's art department from the ground up. Simms' decorative artworks remain in high demand by collectors.
Simms’ ceramic vessel is hollow, with an opening at the top, and has a red and gray glaze. Carroll Harris Simms worked alongside Dr. John T. Biggers to establish the Texas Southern University Art Department. Simms taught sculpture, ceramics, and jewelry-making classes.
This large, oblong ceramic plate created by Carroll Harris Simms has a red glaze. This piece is among those that Professor Simms chose to feature in the 1976 book he co-authored with Dr. Biggers and John Edward Weems, Black Art in Houston: The Texas Southern Experience.
Simms’ ceramic vessel is hollow, with an opening at the top, and has ridges and a dark maroon glaze. Carroll Harris Simms worked alongside Dr. John T. Biggers to establish the Texas Southern University Art Department. Simms taught sculpture, ceramics, and jewelry-making classes.
Simms’ ceramic vessel is round and stout, with ridges and a node at the top, and has a maroon and gray glaze. Carroll Harris Simms worked alongside Dr. John T. Biggers to establish the Texas Southern University Art Department. Simms taught sculpture, ceramics, and jewelry-making classes.
Simms’ large ceramic platter is made from clay with a splotchy white glaze on the top. Carroll Harris Simms worked alongside Dr. John T. Biggers to establish the Texas Southern University Art Department. Simms taught sculpture, ceramics, and jewelry-making classes.
This small ceramic vessel created by Professor Carroll Harris Simms has a green hue, with a brown base and white-glazed lip and interior. Simms believed pottery to be an equally important artistic pursuit to sculpture and was encouraged to hear pottery was held in the same regard in West Africa.
This photograph shows a young Carroll Harris Simms, with many of his sculptures, as an art student at Cranbrook Academy of Art. Simms received his BFA and MFA from Cranbrook, where he was the first African American graduate. Simms recalled the way student and faculty advocates helped him integrate the school. In 1950, Simms came to Texas Southern to help Dr. John T. Biggers run the art department; Simms taught pottery, sculpture, ceramics, and jewelry making classes.
This large, brown ceramic plate created by Carroll Harris Simms features multiple textures, including a bubbling glaze covering most of the top of the piece. Simms worked alongside Dr. John T. Biggers to build Texas Southern's art department from the ground up. Simms' decorative artworks remain in high demand by collectors.
This large ceramic plate created by Carroll Harris Simms features multiple textures, including a bubbling glaze covering most of the top of the piece. Simms worked alongside Dr. John T. Biggers to build Texas Southern's art department from the ground up. Simms' decorative artworks remain in high demand by collectors.
