Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African American Art on Exhibit May 27 -- September 10, 2005

Beginning May 27th and running through the 2005 Enshrinement weekend of September 10th, guests of all ages who visit the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will have the opportunity to observe the impressive art collection of NBA basketball player, Grant Hill. This extensive exhibit features forty-six works of African American art collected over the last eight years by Hill and his wife, four- time Grammy nominee, Tamia Hill.

The collection, entitled Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African American Art, includes paintings, collages, sculptures & works on paper. This impressive exhibit includes important works by some of the best known and most beloved African American artists of the 20th century. These artists include Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, John Biggers, John Coleman, Arthello Beck Jr., Edward Jackson, Hughie Lee-Smith, Malcom Brown, and Phoebe Beasley.

Grant Hill's love of art and sports was inspired by his father, former Dallas Cowboys running back, Calvin Hill. "I wanted to be like my father," says Hill. "As a child, our home was filled with paintings, sculptures and artifacts from places throughout the world, but especially what my father calls 'Third World' art. It had a profound impact on me and shaped my own thinking about collecting African American art and sharing my collection," he adds.

"It is such a pleasure to host Grant Hill's impressive art collection here at the Basketball Hall of Fame," says John L. Doleva, president and C.E.O. "Mr. Hill's passion for the game of basketball and his appreciation for art is a unique combination and not often shared by professional athletes. Anyone who loves sports or art will enjoy a day here at the Hall of Fame," adds Doleva.

The exhibition, which has traveled for the last year to venues throughout the United States including Orlando, New Orleans, Texas, and Baltimore, is making its debut at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Special Exhibit Gallery where guests will be able to combine the appreciation for art as well as the history of basketball. Entry to Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African American Art is FREE with admission to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The exhibition was organized by Hill and by Dr. Alvia J. Wardlaw, Director/Curator, University Museum at Texas Southern University, and Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Alongside collages, prints, sculptures, and paintings by celebrated artists such as Bearden, Catlett, and Biggers are moody, solitary paintings by Hughie Lee- Smith; naive, Grandma Moses-like paintings by self-taught artist Coleman; and sketches and paintings by the late Beck.

Elizabeth Catlett, who produced 21 works in the exhibition, is equally known as a sculptor as she is a lithographer, and examples of works in both media are in the exhibition. In reference to the bronze sculpture reflecting one of Catlett's favorite topics, mother and child, Hill says, "This posture of the strong mother is the kind of work that speaks to everyone in a universal language. The image of mother and child in art goes all the way back to Egypt and certainly the Madonna and child representations of the Renaissance are still important works today. Catlett's mother and child figures contribute to this tradition."

Hughie Lee-Smith, whose colorful oil paintings often depict isolated figures in the manner of American painter, Edward Hopper, painted three of the works in Something All Our Own. Woman by the Seashore (1957) is a rendering of a lone woman standing on a beach overlooking a lake. Hill says of the painting, "I have often said that this work reminds me of my mother. I think of her standing on the shore in her mind as she made the decision to leave her home in New Orleans and attend Wellesley College. It is the moment of truth that is represented in the work that I find so strong."

John Biggers' lithograph The Upper Room (1984), reflects the artist's lifelong celebration of black women and their central role in maintaining continuity within the African American family and community. Malcom Brown's watercolor portraits, Innocence (1991) and Sophisticated Lady (1994) are loosely painted yet compelling character studies of their African American subjects.

Paintings and collages by Romare Bearden account for 13 works of art in the Something All Our Own collection. In discussing Bearden's collage The Street (1985), Hill said, "This work captures for me the energy that anyone can see and absorb in any urban black community, be it New Orleans, Baltimore, or Detroit."

Hill, a 6'8", six-time NBA All-Star, began his most impressive career at Duke University winning back-to-back NCAA Championships (1991 & 1992). In his senior year, he was named a unanimous first team All-American, NCAA All- Tournament and, NCAA Southeastern Regional MVP. Grant was the #1 pick by the Detroit Pistons in the 1994 NBA Draft. He has also been named NBA Rookie of the Year and was a member of the Gold Medal winning Dream Team III representing Team USA at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. After spending six highly productive All-Star years with the Pistons, Grant signed on with the Orlando Magic in 2000.

Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of basketball, The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame promotes and preserves the game of basketball at every level -- professional, collegiate, international, men and women. For more information on these and other upcoming events, please visit our website at http://www.hoophall.com/ or call 1-877-4HOOPLA.

Source: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

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O'Keefe, +1-413-231-5515, dokeefe@hoophall.com, both of The Naismith Memorial
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