Dillard University is proud to celebrate the extraordinary legacy of distinguished alumnus Hayward L. Oubre Jr., ’39, whose groundbreaking work is the focus of Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity, now on view at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA). This landmark exhibition is the first monographic presentation dedicated to Oubre’s career and honors his lasting impact on American modern art.
Born in New Orleans in 1916, Oubre made history as the first person to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Dillard University in 1939. Structural Integrity presents outstanding examples from across his career, exploring his artistic training; his teaching and exhibiting at historically Black colleges and universities; the influence of his World War II military service; his political activism during the Civil Rights Movement; and his fascination with modern technology, the Atomic Age, and the Space Race.
Oubre is best known for his innovative use of everyday wire coat hangers, transforming ordinary materials into modernist masterworks that range from realism to pure abstraction. While widely celebrated as a sculptor and printmaker, the exhibition also highlights his painting practice and his ongoing exploration of new materials and representations of the Black experience.
After postgraduate study at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University), where he studied under renowned artists Hale Woodruff and Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Oubre earned his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa in 1948. He went on to shape generations of artists as a visionary educator, serving as the first chair of the art department at Alabama State University and later founding the art department at Winston-Salem State University—further strengthening the southern network of Black artists.
The exhibition includes significant loans from major institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the High Museum of Art, as well as leading southern collections of African American art. Notably, every work for which Oubre received awards at the Atlanta University Annual Exhibitions between 1942 and 1970 is represented.
“Dillard University is honored to see the work and impact of one of our most distinguished alumni recognized at this level,” said Dr. Monique Guillory, President of Dillard University. “Hayward Oubre’s legacy exemplifies the power of creativity, scholarship, and purpose. As the first graduate of our Bachelor of Fine Arts program, his achievements continue to inspire our students and affirm Dillard’s enduring contribution to the arts and to the cultural life of our nation.”
Dillard University is proud to celebrate this moment and the remarkable legacy of Hayward L. Oubre Jr., ’39, whose life and work reflect the excellence, innovation, and social consciousness that define the Dillard experience.
