Bert Long Jr.

Art Brokerage: Bert Long Jr. American Artist: A Fifth Ward native, Bert Long's longevity is matched by the fascinating aspects of his early transformation from professional chef at the Ritz Carlton Chicago and Hyatt Regency Houston to a widely exhibited painter and sculptor. Long has lived and worked extensively outside Texas, maintaining studios in Rome, Italy and Berzocana, Spain. Bert Long is one of the state's few Rome Prize inductees – a bursary award made annually by the American Academy in Rome. He is among the most exhibited artists in Texas with a history extending back to the original Lawndale Art Center. Institutions that have shown his work within the past decade include the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, with a major exhibition in 2006, Out of the Life of Bert L. Long, Jr.; the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston in 2005 with Double Consciousness: Black Conceptual Art Since 1970. Additionally, Long has created two of Houston's beloved permanent public works: Field of Vision at Project Row Houses and Art/Life, a 30-foot by 7-foot mural commissioned by the Houston Arts Alliance for Houston Public Library's Looscan branch.