Best known for innovative sculptures created out of wire hangers, Oubre explored the possibilities of color and form through his art. Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity is the first monographic retrospective of the artist.

Oubre was the first fine arts graduate from New Orleans’s Dillard University.

NEW ORLEANS – This month, the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) presents the first monographic exhibition dedicated to the work of American modernist Hayward L. Oubre, Jr. (1916–2006). Through 48 sculptures, paintings, and prints, Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity reveals how the artist shaped American art while working in the South. Organized by the Birmingham Museum of Art, the exhibition is on view at NOMA from January 30 through May 3, 2026.

“This exhibition is an important reexamination of American modernism from the vantage point of the South—and through the eyes of a New Orleans–born artist,” said Susan M. Taylor, The Montine McDaniel Freeman Director of NOMA. “This thoughtful retrospective of Oubre’s work will provide a new consideration of color, materiality, and representation in 20th-century art.”

Oubre is best known for his work with a seemingly ordinary everyday material—wire coat hangers—which he used to create modernist masterworks. These artworks fuse his lived experience, wide-ranging interests, and art historical influences in compositions that range from realism to pure abstraction. He completed nearly forty wire sculptures prior to the early 1980s, and also painted throughout his career, experimenting with new materials and depicting Black experiences.

Born in New Orleans in 1916, Oubre became the first student to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Dillard University. While pursuing postgraduate studies at Atlanta University, Oubre was profoundly influenced by the tutelage of internationally-acclaimed painter Hale Woodruff (1900–80) and prominent sculptor Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890–1960). Following his military service in World War II, Oubre enrolled at the University of Iowa, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1948.

In addition to Oubre’s artistic innovations, Structural Integrity underscores the crucial role of art departments at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in shaping the artistic landscape of the twentieth century. Oubre served as the first chair of the art department at Alabama State University (ASU) in Montgomery, from 1949 to 1965. After leaving ASU, Oubre established the art department at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, building on the legacy he shaped at ASU. Through his teaching career, Oubre dedicated his life to growing and enhancing a Southern network of Black artists. 

“This exhibition is a full-circle moment, looking back at Oubre’s work from his home city of New Orleans,” said Anne Collins Smith, Chief Curator at NOMA. “Oubre’s work demonstrates the vital role of Southern artists and Black artists within American modernism. This presentation at NOMA will offer visitors an overdue look at Oubre’s work and the opportunity to draw connections with other important artists represented in the museum’s permanent collection.”

The exhibition offers a tightly focused presentation of outstanding examples from Oubre’s body of work, covering topics including his training, teaching, and exhibiting at HBCUs; the influence of his military service on his art; his political activism during the Civil Rights Movement; and his fascination with modern technology, the Atomic Age, and the Space Race.

“Oubre’s modernist practice incorporated accessible new and found materials to produce work steeped in its place and moment: funny and current, relevant and visually dynamic, as well as political and personal,” says Katelyn D. Crawford, The William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. “Oubre bridged a century with his unshakable determination to create. When he retired in 1981, he had taught and made art for more than forty years, educating generations of Black southern artists.” 

Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity includes loans from museum collections—including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the High Museum of Art—as well as major collections of African American art. Oubre won nine awards at the annual exhibitions of work by Black artists staged at Atlanta University (AU) from 1942 to 1970. Every work for which he won prizes at the AU annuals is represented in this exhibition, many of them loans from Clark Atlanta University Art Museum.

Opening Events and Selected Programs

• Thursday, January 29, 5:30–8:00 pm: Member Preview of Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity
  NOMA members have the opportunity to visit the exhibition before it opens during a special preview. Become a member at noma.org/join.
• Friday, January 30, 6–9 pm: NOMA at Night
  Explore the museum after hours with programs inspired by Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity. Enjoy live music, artmaking, tours with exhibition curator Katelyn Crawford, and more. Tickets are $15 for NOMA members. General admission is $30 for adults and free for ages 19 and under.
• Select Wednesdays, January 22–March 26: Art Thrives Clay Sculpture Workshops (Ages 55 and Up)
  In conjunction with Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity, the museum is offering an artmaking course during which participants will explore clay sculpture. These workshops are part of NOMA’s Art Thrives initiative for ages 55 and older.
• Friday, February 27, 6–9 pm: Teen Takeover (Ages 13–19)
  For this program, NOMA’s Teen Art Council will lead an exploration of the exhibition through a range of activations designed specifically for teen audiences. Free for teenagers and their parents, guardians, and caregivers.
• Wednesday, March 4, 12:30 and 6:00 pm: Gallery Talks
  Every Wednesday, the museum offers gallery talks led by NOMA curators, staff, and visiting speakers. Included with museum admission, which is free every Wednesday courtesy of The Helis Foundation’s Art for All initiative.
• Thursday, March 12, 12–1 pm: Book Club
  Participants will discuss essays and texts featured in the exhibition catalogue for Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity. Attendees are expected to acquire their own copies of the book; participation is free with advance registration.

Exhibition Catalogue 

A fully-illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition. Published by the Birmingham Museum of Art and Giles Ltd, this 184-page volume is devoted to the life and work of Hayward Oubre, bringing together important examples of his sculptures, paintings, and prints to explore his career, creative process, and legacy. It features essays by Amalia K. Amaki, Katelyn D. Crawford, Rebecca L. Giordano, Shawnya L. Harris, Marin R. Sullivan, Diana Tuite, and Hina M. Zaidi. These are joined by reflections written by Oubre’s family, friends, and former students Floyd W. Coleman, Sr., Carter B. Cue, Paul A. Gary, Mervin Anthony Green, Noah Jemisin, Brenda Thompson, and Larry Thompson. The catalogue is available for purchase from the NOMA Museum Shop.

Exhibition Credits

Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity is organized by the Birmingham Museum of Art and curated by Katelyn D. Crawford, The William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. This exhibition is presented with generous support from the Terra Foundation for American Art, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Henry Luce Foundation. Lead support for the exhibition catalogue is provided by the Wyeth Foundation for American Art. 

The presentation in New Orleans is sponsored by Stephanie and Ryan Burks. Exhibition program support is provided by Boh Bros. Centennial Fund.

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Media Contacts

Charlie Tatum
Director of Marketing and Communications
New Orleans Museum of Art
ctatum@noma.org
504.658.4103

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About NOMA and the Besthoff Sculpture Garden

The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) and its Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden are home to innovative exhibitions, installations, educational programs, and research. Exploring human creativity across time, cultures, and disciplines, the global scope of the museum’s initiatives open a vibrant dialogue with the history and culture of New Orleans. The museum stewards a collection of nearly 50,000 works, with exceptional holdings in African art, photography, decorative arts, and Japanese art, as well as strengths in American and French art, and an expanding collection highlighting contemporary artists. The museum’s exhibitions and dynamic learning and engagement offerings serve as a forum for visitors to engage with diverse perspectives, share cultural experiences, and foster a life of learning at all ages. Recent exhibitions include Black Orpheus: Jacob Lawrence and the Mbari Club, Called to the Camera: Black American Studio Photographers, The Orléans Collection (an exhibition of forty European masterpieces from the collection of the city’s namesake, Philippe II, Duc d’Orléans), East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth Century America Landscape Photography, and Changing Course: Reflections on New Orleans Histories (seven contemporary art projects focusing on reimagining stories from the city’s past).

NOMA’s 12-acre Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden expands visitors’ experiences of the museum with one of the most notable sculpture gardens in the country. The Besthoff Sculpture Garden, free and open to the public seven days a week, has nearly 100 sculptures and outdoor works of art situated in a unique landscape featuring Spanish moss-laden live oaks and a sinuous lagoon surrounded by an expansive ecosystem of native plants. The works in the garden range from the 19th to the 21st centuries, with pieces by Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Louise Bourgeois, Ida Kohlmeyer, Claes Oldenburg, Sean Scully, Maya Lin, Do Ho Suh, Ugo Rondinone, Wangechi Mutu, Hank Willis Thomas, and many others. The Besthoff Sculpture Garden features contemporary design elements—including a sculpture pavilion, an amphitheater, and an architecturally significant canal link bridge connecting the garden’s original 2003 footprint with a 2019 expansion. Its water management practices support the health and resiliency of New Orleans City Park and the surrounding environment. Throughout the year, NOMA hosts outdoor programs in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden including festivals, performances, wellness classes, tours, and more.