Brandon Surtain: Former Tiger Now Using His Talents On Canvas
“Everything I know, I learned at LSU. All of my functional knowledge basically. I loved it. There’s just so much. First and foremost, the environment. It always felt like home. There are people at LSU who claim me as their son. People there always willing to reach their arms out and kind of help me when I needed it.” - Brandon Surtain
Brandon Surtain, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, spent four years on the LSU football team, earning letterwinner honors as a senior in 2017. A hard-worker on and off the field, Surtain took pride in his role as a scout team player each week, helping the Tigers prepare for their next game. Surtain’s patch to LSU to an unexpected route as he and his family were forced to evacuate and re-locate to Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina devasted his hometown of New Orleans in 2005. Surtain made the most of his opportunity in Baton Rouge, developing into an LSU fan as a high school student at McKinley. Surtain’s love of the game of football prompted him to walk-on to the LSU football team where he was a valued member of the squad. Surtain’s other passion – art – led him to major in Studio Art, a field of study that he graduated in from LSU in 2017.
And then:
After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Brandon moved back to his original home of New Orleans and attended graduate school at Tulane University. There, he earned his master’s degree in both Architecture and Sustainable Real Estate Development.
And now:
Brandon continues to create and curate art, hosting shows and using his real estate development and architecture talents for different projects. In the fall of 2020, he curated and held “Art for Activism,” a show in Tulane’s Carroll Gallery. Seventy percent of the proceeds supported Mobilizing Millennials, which works to register and motivate young people to vote. He also remains active in the Tulane art and architecture community through numerous projects alongside professors. One project is “Pass Dat Joy,” which helps to provide art toolkits and supplies to families in order to alleviate stress from COVID-19.
To see Surtain’s art and other projects, visit his website at https://www.brandonjuansurtain.com/