The “GIANT STEPS—Celebrating Extraordinary Achievements of African-American Leaders in STEM,” exhibit has been installed on the Perot Museum’s multi-story, outdoor staircase, facing Field Street. The art feature was installed by local architect and emerging artist Daniel M. Gunn, winner of the Staircase Project design competition.
“Far too often the important contributions made by African Americans to the advancement of STEM have been untold, unheard and unseen. This magnificent design from Daniel M. Gunn shines a much-needed light on these hidden figures,” said Dr. Linda Silver, Eugene McDermott Chief Executive Officer. “Giant steps often begin by first taking small steps, so we encourage everyone to climb these stairs and find inspiration for the future through learning about the past.”
Last fall, the Perot Museum and African American Museum conducted a call for entries to create a vibrantly colored, eye-catching design that celebrates African-American leaders in science—from history and modern day—who have made significant contributions to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). To spotlight the artistic talent in the Dallas/Fort Worth region, the Perot Museum opened the competition to African-American creative designers who reside in North Texas. Entries were judged by a diverse, blue-ribbon panel comprised of regional leaders representing the arts, education and STEM business communities. (See list of panelists below.)
“Our partnership with the Perot Museum has been a great opportunity to link the African American experience to science and to promote African American history and culture,” said Dr. W. Marvin Dulaney, deputy director and chief operating officer of the African American Museum, Dallas. “The design selected for the installation is very eye-catching as well as informative about the African Americans who have contributed to scientific innovation and invention in our country. This has been a very wonderful project that I am thankful the Perot Museum has undertaken.”
The creative design—which has been reproduced and professionally installed using weatherproof, vinyl materials – will remain in place through Memorial Day.
Gunn is a 36-year-old architect employed at Oglesby Greene Architects in downtown Dallas. Born in Alabama, he has lived in New Jersey as well as Louisiana, where he graduated with an architecture degree from Louisiana Tech University in 2008. He picked up a pencil at age five and has been drawing and painting ever since. He states that “When I’m not busy designing buildings by day, I’m honing my skills with the paintbrush on canvas by night.”
His design features:
- Dr. Charles Drew: known as the father of the blood bank
- Shirley Ann Jackson: telecommunications inventor and the first African-American woman to earn an MIT doctorate
- Dr. Mae Jemison: physician, engineer and the first African-American woman in space
- Otis Frank Boykin: an engineer, entrepreneur and inventor with approximately 26 patents.
- George Washington Carver: famed agricultural inventor and “Wizard of Tuskegee
- Katherine Johnson and Mary Winston Jackson: NASA scientists profiled in the movie Hidden Figures.
While Gunn chose to portray past and present African-American leaders in STEM who have accomplished amazing feats in their respective fields, he also featured two less obvious leaders.
“Architects Paul Revere Williams and Norma Merrick Sklarek were two trailblazers who paved the way for me and many other African-American men and women to pursue careers in architecture,” said Gunn. “I was compelled to include these significant figures because African Americans are not very visible in the field of architecture.”
Additional information about the African-American STEM giants depicted on the staircase can be found at perotmuseum.org/STEMleaders or by scanning the QR code located next to the staircase.
The Perot Museum is located at 2201 N. Field Street in Dallas, Texas. For details and visitor information, go to perotmuseum.org.
About the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. The top cultural attraction in Dallas/Fort Worth and a Michelin Green Guide three-star destination, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science is a nonprofit educational organization located in the heart of Dallas, Texas. With a mission to inspire minds through nature and science, the Perot Museum delivers exciting, engaging and innovative visitor and outreach experiences through its education, exhibition, and research and collections programming for children, students, teachers, families and life-long learners. The 180,000-square-foot facility in Victory Park opened in December 2012 and is now recognized as the symbolic gateway to the Dallas Arts District. Future scientists, mathematicians and engineers will find inspiration and enlightenment through 11 permanent exhibit halls on five floors of public space; a children’s museum; a state-of-the art traveling exhibition hall; and The Hoglund Foundation Theater. Designed by 2005 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Thom Mayne and his firm Morphosis Architects, the Victory Park museum has been lauded for its artistry and sustainability. To learn more, please visit perotmuseum.org
About the African American Museum, Dallas. The African America Museum, Dallas was founded in 1974 as a part of Bishop College. The Museum has operated independently since 1979. For more than 40 years, the African American Museum has stood as a cultural beacon in Dallas and the Southwestern United States. Located in Dallas’ historic Fair Park, the African American Museum is the only museum in the Southwestern United States devoted to the collection, preservation and display of African American artistic, cultural and historical materials that relate to the African-American experience. The African American Museum incorporates a wide variety of visual art forms and historical documents that portray the African American experience in the United States, Southwest, and Dallas. The Museum has a small, but rich collection of African art, African-American fine art and one of the largest African American folk-art collections in the United States. Learn more at aamdallas.org.
