When walking from class to class, in and out of familiar buildings each day, many people may not notice their surroundings, or even a piece of meaningful artwork they pass daily.

Entering an office in the Burrowes Building lobby, only three feet away from John Thomas Biggers' murals titled "Day of the Harvest" and "Night of the Poor," one anonymous teaching assistant commented, "I'm sorry, I've never heard of them before."

Biggers, who passed away three years ago this month, was an up-and-coming African-American artist when he painted the "Harvest Songs" murals as a Penn State student in 1947.

According to an article about Biggers on the Penn State Web site, he graduated with bachelor of science and master of education degrees in 1948 and got his doctorate degree in art education from Penn State in 1955. He went on to become a Distinguished Alumnus of Penn State in 1972 and a Distinguished Professor at Texas Southern University.

Although he died in 2001, Biggers' artwork continues to be displayed in notable museums around the country. The murals he created, some of the first that showed promise of a successful career in art, portray the importance of education by showing a life rich with knowledge ("Day of the Harvest") and a life deprived of it ("Night of the Poor").

"Day of the Harvest" displays a colorful group of singing people generously sharing their food. In "Night of the Poor," it's the opposite situation: The subjects look drab and hollow, with bulging bellies and empty baskets and bags.

"The murals are a wonderful vision of adverse views of life," said John Buck, assistant professor of English, who frequently passes the mural on the way to his office. "On one hand, you have the healthy, vital and affirmative, and on the other, you have the starving, miserable and unhappy. It's a very moving and important piece."

Buck, who has discussed "Harvest Songs" with Biggers, said the artist was instrumental in the development of art education at Penn State.

Lindsay Lightner, a lecturer in the English department, said although she has worked in Burrowes Building for three years, she knew little about the murals until recently.

"I would walk by and see them every day, but now that I know a little bit more about them, they're more interesting," Lightner said. "You rarely see African-American art like this in a public place, and that's what struck me about the murals."