Something all his own: the NBA's Grant Hill hopes his collection of African American art will inspire, excite a younger generation

Black Issues in Higher Education, Dec 2, 2004 by Crystal L. Keels

NBA star Grant Hill is known for his skills on the basketball court, his marriage to Grammy award-winning singer, Tamia, and, most recently, for his courageous comeback after several surgeries that jeopardized his professional basketball career. Yet, Hill's off-the-court activities currently are being considered as exemplary as his athletic performances. "Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African American Art," the 46-piece personal collection of paintings, sculptures and prints currently touring the nation, has gained center court attention in the art and educational arenas.

For the past eight years, Hill has been following the example of his parents--former NFL football great Calvin Hill, and Janet Hill, a Washington, D.C., consultant and trustee at Wellesley College, her alma mater--and has been acquiring the works of African American artists. In the process, the 32-year-old athlete has amassed a remarkable collection (worth an undisclosed amount) that documents the career of the late Romare Bearden and showcases the work of award-winning sculptor Elizabeth Catlett, who, well into her continues to create. Works by80s, talented African American artists Phoebe Beasley, John Thomas Biggets, Malcolm Brown, Arthello Beck Jr., John Coleman, Edward Jackson and Hughie Lee-Smith complete the collection that debuted in November 2003 at the Orlando Museum of Art in Florida, where the Orlando Magic forward now makes his home.

"(The exhibition) was a great success here," says Maureen McKenna, assistant curator at the Orlando Museum. "Total admissions were over 50,000, and many school groups attended." McKenna notes that because of Hill's celebrity, children admire him. That admiration, she says, increased young people's interest in the exhibition. "One of the reasons this exhibition was so successful is the (power of) visual arts, of course. Children can relate to them so easily," McKenna continues. "But these works also have them dealing with history. It was so wonderful to have the work of such important Black artists."

McKenna points out that Hill's personal appearances at the museum were also a big draw.

"Grant was available to do interviews and talk with patrons," she says. She adds that the exhibition may have helped to dispel notions of the museum as a formidable place. "We appreciate the effort Grant made," she says. "He made a high quality of art accessible on many levels and that made it a wonderful experience."

HILL'S MISSION

At Morgan State University in Baltimore, which was home to "Something All Our Own" from mid-September until late November, a group of African American middle school children and teachers made their way through the exhibition.

Since the exhibition opened in September, public elementary and high school students have been coming to view the collection on Tuesdays and Thursdays, says E.L. Briscoe, instructor of art theory and criticism and assistant curator of the James E. Lewis Museum of Art on the Morgan State campus.

"The younger kids ooh and aah when they see the works," Briscoe says. "They ask questions like, 'Where do they come from?' and 'Why did someone do it?' Older students are interested in stories behind the work," Briscoe says. He adds that one older art history student even identified some irregularity in the perspective of one of the paintings. Regardless of their ages, Briscoe says students appear to engage significantly with the collection.

And making those types of connections is the primary reason Hill organized his collection as a traveling exhibition.

Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, an adjunct associate professor in African American studies at Yale University, says the motivation behind "Something All Our Own" is to excite and inspire children about the visual arts.

"To see art, talk about it, even if they don't understand it, if they can stand in the color, that works to encourage the creativity that children have inherently," says Alexander, a renowned poet, essayist, author of The Black Interior and contributor to the exhibition catalogue. "That is something that gets bred out of us as we get older. To be affiliated with an educational institute is part of the vision (of the project)."

Commenting on the importance of experiencing a museum, Alexander says she loves to see people taking their children.

"As a young person, I could go to the museum for free. The new Museum of Modern Art (in Manhattan) has a $20 price tag for admission. That makes me sad," adding that "Something All Our Own" gives children and young adults the opportunity to view the work of what she describes as some of the nation's most important artists at no cost, thanks to Hill's generosity.

"I'm glad that a young man has chosen to use his resources this way. It is really, really wonderful, what he is doing with his money in a public way. He is part of a new generation of art collectors," Alexander says.

CARETAKING CULTURE

"What if the Negro people be wooed from a strife for righteousness, from a love of knowing, to regard dollars as the be-all and end-all of life?" Du Bois prophetically asks in his 1903 work, The Souls of Black Folk, warning of the danger of pursuing money at the expense of losing touch with African American culture and traditions.