John T. Biggers, a pioneering black muralist who painted murals that appear in both the Sparks Building and in the HUB-Robeson Center, died Jan. 25 in a hospital in Houston.

Biggers, 76, was known for devoting his time to the African-American experience. In 1949, he founded the art department in what is currently the Texas Southern University.

His mural "Dying Soldier," part of the exhibition "Young Negro Art," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, received national attention in 1943.

Biggers received his bachelor's degree in art education and master's and doctoral degrees in art history from Penn State.

— by Alison Gersten