Xavier alumnus David Cotton paints the New Orleans he remembers 

By Melody Daniels

At 94, David Cotton, one of Xavier University of Louisiana’s oldest living graduates, continues to create art while reflecting on the education that shaped his decadeslong career as an artist and teacher.

A member of Xavier’s Class of 1959, Cotton recalls attending the university during a time when segregation shaped everyday life in New Orleans.

“I couldn’t ask for better education,” Cotton said.

Cotton enrolled at Xavier in 1953, when New Orleans public schools and buses were still segregated. He remembers a smaller campus, classes taught by nuns and priests and a community that challenged him to take his education seriously.

“I had never really studied seriously all through high school,” Cotton said. “Yet, there’s something about a Catholic education that is demanding and pushed me to become more disciplined when I came to Xavier.”

He credits that preparation with helping him become an educator.

Although Cotton initially wanted to pursue a career as an artist, a faculty member encouraged him to take education courses to help support his growing family. Teaching eventually became another way for him to express his creativity.

“Dr. Lucier was the guy who steered me into taking some education classes, so I could become an art teacher instead of just an artist. Comparing my education against all my friends who went to other HBCUs, Xavier prepared me through everything,” Cotton said.

Cotton spent more than 35 years teaching in New Orleans public schools. Throughout his career, he continued developing his artistic skills through classroom demonstrations and by helping fellow teachers create artwork for school programs.

“I enjoyed being able to teach young people how to grow in art and give them the same space to develop their creativity that I had growing up,” Cotton said.

After retiring, Cotton returned to the classroom as a student, taking art courses and dedicating more time to his paintings. While teaching had kept him connected to art, retirement gave him the opportunity to develop his work beyond the classroom demonstrations he once used to introduce students to new techniques.

Today, Cotton continues painting New Orleans neighborhoods, preserving the streets, buildings and everyday scenes that have shaped his life.

“I’m re-living my life,” Cotton said. “Every picture that I do, I’ve experienced it.”

Cotton continues to share his work through local exhibitions, including the National Conference of Artists Convention Exhibition, “African Roots/American Fruits Part Deux,” which ran Sept. 12-26.

His paintings are also featured in Xavier’s Biennial Alumni Art Show, on display in the Administration Building Art Gallery through Dec. 31.

For Brynn Mitchell, a sophomore chemistry major on the pre-pharmacy track from New Orleans, viewing Cotton’s work in the alumni exhibition offered a glimpse of the creative life she hopes to maintain.

“I think Mr. Cotton inspires me in a lot of ways as a creator myself, and I hope to one day be like him, pursuing the discipline and passion to create art when I am older. Seeing his work in person was incredibly eye-opening,” Mitchell said.

Ron Bechet, a professor of art at Xavier, described Cotton as “a stable force” in the Black arts community whose example helped him recognize the possibilities of pursuing a creative career.

“Just the fact that a Black man could be a painter was significant when I was a young man,” Bechet said.

Cotton hopes Xavier and other historically Black colleges and universities continue providing opportunities for students to explore their creativity, even when art is not their major or intended career.

“I always try to give myself some more training even when it wasn’t available,” Cotton said. “And I like to see other people do the same thing.”

More than seven decades after enrolling at Xavier, Cotton hopes the university continues preparing future generations as it prepared him.

“I just hope they keep going with it,” Cotton said.