BURFORD E. EVANS

Born in Golinda, Texas in 1931, Burford Elonzo Evans was first exposed to art when he caught a glimpse of a woman painting as he peeked through a window as a boy; intrigued, he begged his mother until she allowed him to take a $25 class at the local YMCA. After graduating high school in Waco in 1949, Evans joined the Air Force, which stationed him in Paris as a medical technician. While there, he studied at the Universite de Paris a la Sorbonne and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1950 to 1955. Evans then returned to Texas and moved to Houston, where he studied with painter Ralph Dickerman; entered his work in juried shows at the Jewish Community Center and at the Art League Houston; and was represented by gallerists Margaret Webb Dreyer, Robbie Sutton, and Vivian Ayers. Meanwhile, he taught immunology classes at Baylor University and for decades, offered private lessons in painting. He’s frequently been commissioned as a portrait painter, including a series commemorating the deans of the Thurgood Marshall Law School and Winston-Salem State University. Exhibitions include solo shows at the First Unitarian Church, Houston (1970); Carver Cultural Center, San Antonio (1992); and group shows at ArtBank Gallery, Houston (1980); Midtown Art Center (1982); University of Houston / Clear Lake (1989); and Nicole Gallery, Chicago (2002). A recent series of paintings of Baltimore horse-cart vendors was shown at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in October 2017.

Notes: Interview was conducted on October 2, 2019 at Evans’ painting studio on Fondren Drive just north of Route 90. When I arrived, he was finishing up with a group of students, a few of whom spoke with me on camera as well. Topics include Evans’ approach as an art instructor; his youth in East Texas; his art education in Paris; his career as an immunology teacher at Baylor University; his experience showing work in Houston; the wide scope of his artistic output; and his friendship with artist and gallerist Margaret Webb Dreyer. Very little has been edited from this long, wide-ranging interview. 

Further Resources:

The Vanishing Culture of Baltimore Arabbers, Black Art in America, November 6, 2017.

This project was funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance