Special Exhibitions

 

 

Click here to download Football Invitational catalogue.

NAMOS Scores a Touchdown

 

4 New Football Exhibits: Football Invitational, Charles Fazzino Collection, ZBowl and NAMOS’ Downtown Installation

 

This summer there was a lot of heat about whether there would be a professional football season. But NAMOS wasn’t sweating it as the doors opened on the Football Invitational exhibit. We predicted  football fever would hit Indianapolis and we’re thrilled to report that NAMOS is in the thick of it all with multiple football exhibits throughout the Indianapolis area. Football fans can celebrate the great athletes and moments of football – professional, collegiate, and pick-up, at each of these exhibits.

 

The Football Invitational exhibit features some 50 paintings, sculptures, and photographs from many leading sport artists worldwide.  Some of the luminaries included in this year’s exhibit are: Benjamin Blackburn, Chris Bucher, David Burnett, Tony Capparelli, Donna Carr, Charles Fazzino, James Fiorentino, Bart Forbes, Bill Hall, Troy Hayes, Bob Hogan, Ken Kalman, Larry Klukaszewski, Patrick Mack, Marc Mellon, John Melvin, LeRoy Neiman, John Oilar, Debbie Sampson, Joe Sinnott, Dan Tearle, and Elaine Wolfe. The Football Invitational artists were selected for their excellence in creating fine art and depicting both the emotion and motion of the great American game of football. Most works will be available for purchase through NAMOS, so stay tuned. The Football Invitational will be on exhibit at NAMOS until the first week of January, 2012. To see these works please visit the NAMOS site here.

 

Then, NAMOS will take this exhibit downtown to Monument Circle from the second week in January, 2012 through the second week in February, 2012.  NAMOS will have an installation of over 30 of the Football Invitational artworks in the windows of IPL and other locations around the circle forming a public art gallery that all Super Bowl participants will be able to view to further  NAMOS’ mission to educate the public on art depicting sport. Artwork such as Chris Bucher’s life-sized works depicting Colts’ player, Ryan Diem,  will be in IPL’s window as will Charles Fazzino's Officially Licensed NFL Commemorative Artwork for Super Bowl XLVI. Other artists whose work will be displayed around the circle include Tony Capparelli, Donna Carr, James Fiorentino, Bart Forbes, Troy Hayes, Bob Hogan, Ken Kalman, Patrick Mack, Marc Mellon, LeRoy Neiman, Debbie Sampson, Dan Tearle, and Elaine Wolfe.

 

NAMOS also has the pleasure of being a part of the 2012 ZBowl, Zionsville, Indiana, a location which is a Super Celebration Site.  In Zionsville, football fans and art-lovers will have the rare opportunity to see treasures from NAMOS’ permanent collection of art depicting football. The collection includes 30 paintings, sculptures and photographs by renowned artists such as LeRoy Neiman, Winslow Homer, Joseph Shepherd, James Fiorentino and Fay Moore.  For more information, including exhibit locations and hours, visit the ZBowl site here.

 

 

2nd Annual International Fine Arts Competition          Commitment to Excellence in Art & Sport

 

The exhibit features over 50 prize-winning paintings, sculptures, and photographs by artists depicting sport as their primary subject. The works were chosen by a three-panel jury following an international call for submissions.  The competition attracted artists from 46 states and nine foreign countries. Fifty-seven sports were represented in the more than 300 works of art that were entered.  Most works will be available for purchase with up to 30% of all proceeds benefitting NAMOS. 

The NCAA plans to sponsor artwork and display winning entries at its national headquarters in support of the project.

 

The exhibit opens publicly on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 and will run until February 29, 2012. 

Click here for more information.

 

 

 

Debbie Sampson, Catching Colors, Oil

Football Invitational Exhibit

 

The National Art Museum of Sport (NAMOS) opened the Football Invitational exhibit at NAMOS on July 28, 2011. The exhibit featured nearly fifty paintings, sculptures and
photographs from many of the top sport artists from around the world.

The eyes of the football world will turn to Indianapolis this February when Super Bowl XLVI will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The inaugural Big Ten Championship game will also be in Indianapolis on December 3, 2011. Until then, the eyes of the world can celebrate the great athletes and moments of the game of football at NAMOS’ Football Invitational exhibit. The exhibit  celebrates the fine art depictions of professional, collegiate, and pick-up football.

Some of the great artists included in this year’s exhibit are: Benjamin Blackburn, Chris Bucher, David Burnett, Tony Capparelli, Donna Carr, Charles Fazzino, James Fiorentino, Bart Forbes, Troy Hayes, Bob Hogan, Ken Kalman, Larry Klukaszewski, Patrick Mack, Marc Mellon, John Melvin, Bill Menzel, LeRoy Neiman, John Oilar, Debbie Sampson, Joe Sinnott, Dan Tearle, and Elaine Wolfe.

The exhibit closes February 29, 2012.

Click here for more information.

 

 

                                

 

Stories Sport Art Tells

Jimmy Conners, Mervin Honig

Is It A Racquet? From Rags To Riches In Tennis Today

by John Davis

  

In 1968 the sport of tennis entered the Open Era, and tournaments worldwide rewarded winners and runners-up with prize money.  Amateur tennis was for the most part relegated to junior tournaments and college competition.

Top-ranking amateurs before 1968 were allowed a stipend of $10 a day for meals, and were reimbursed by the U.S. Tennis Association for gas mileage between the top tournaments of the circuit, most of which took place on the east coast.  Players literally competed for the love of the game, with some glory along the way if you were good enough.  The best players often turned "pro" and barnstormed across the country, playing in high-school gyms for rather paltry rewards.  Jack Kramer was one of the first organizers of the pre-Open Era pro tour, and it was a rather haphazard affair with uncertain success at each stop.

But today's lure of a pot of gold at the end of the tennis rainbow has inspired a new generation of tennis talent.  The United States and Australian supremacy on the world tennis stage was eroded by upstart newcomers from all around the globe beginning in the 1970s.  Ilie Nastase and Ion Tiriac of Rumania were the forerunners of a herd of new (and very good) European players who now dominate the rankings.   In a rather alarming turnaround, there are no American players in the top eight world rankings in men's tennis, nor are there any American women in the top 24 worldwide.  Russian, Slavic, and European players dominate, with a small number of Asian and Latin American stars in the rankings rosters.

Is money the main attraction for the avid, and perhaps avaricious, players of today?  Wimbledon, now in session, offers a stunning $23 million in prize money this year.  And tournament winnings are dwarfed by endorsement contracts for the top players, many of whom are multi-millionaires in their late 20's. 

During the Australian supremacy, tennis was almost a national obligation.  A toddler who showed promise with a racquet was nursed through tennis academies and coached without respite, and the results were clear during the years of Rod Laver (who won two Grand Slams), Rosewall, Emerson, Hoad, Newcombe, and other Aussie greats of the 50s and 60s.  That sort of non-stop tennis diet produces great players, and that is the strategy of many nations in the shadow of the former Soviet bloc.  It also represents a chance for a budding star or starlet to travel, to experience a world beyond their imagination, and to bring glory to the homeland.  Thus the game has taken on a very serious tenor for many players who are sponsored by their governments.

Whatever the inspiration, the game of tennis has surged in popularity worldwide, and one must applaud the new international character.  The competition today is ferocious, and the schedule for top players almost impossibly gruelling.  It is perhaps a bit naive to think that the love of the game is the main inspiration, but it does seems so when a star weeps openly on the dias as he or she holds aloft a huge winner's trophy.  So what if it is filled with dollars or pounds or francs?  It is a just reward for years of training and hard work, but indeed that labor has the enjoyable undertone of enjoyment.  After all, tennis is a game . . . isn't it?      

Football Exhibit Corner

NA
Where:  Football exhibits are located at:           

Z-Bowl: Zionsville, Indiana 46077 (a Super Celebration Site). Includes gallery displays at the following locations:
Brown’s on Main: 90 South Main Street (Mon. - Sat. 9am – 6pm and Sun. 12pm – 4pm)
Prudential Realty: 15 South Main Street (Daily, 10am – 5pm)
Watts Fine Art Gallery: 10 North Main Street (Wed. – Fri. 12pm – 5pm; Sat. 11am - 5pm; Sun. – Tues. by appointment (317) 344-2534)
Goodman’s Jewelers: 106 North Main Street (Mon. – Wed. 10am – 5:30pm; Thurs. – Sat. 10am – 8pm; Sun. 12pm – 5pm)
Indianapolis Executive Airport: 11329 East S.R. 32 (Open 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week)

Please email ecvarner@iupui.edu with questions.

Limited quantity of SIGNED Officially Licensed NFL Commemorative Super Bowl XLVI Posters by Charles Fazzino now available for purchase! [18 x 24, $40 each]
Email  ecvarner@IUPUI.edu to reserve your copy before these sell out!

Plan Your Visit

Hours of Operation

Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.      For weekend and holiday hours, please call 317.274.3627.

Cost

NAMOS is open to the public free of charge. There is a fee for parking in University Place's underground garage. NAMOS Members can park for free. Please ask a NAMOS staff member to validate your ticket.

Contact Information

Call 317.274.3627 or e-mail Elizabeth Varner, ecvarner@iupui.edu for group tours.

Location

850 West Michigan Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202

University Place on the campus of Indiana University - Purdue University.

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Upcoming Exhibition

Racing

 

NAMOS will open a racing exhibit in the Spring. We are still looking for works to include. If you are an artist with works depicting racing or know of one, please contact Elizabeth Varner at ecvarner@iupui.edu.