The National Art Museum of Sport (NAMOS) and The Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference (Conference) announced the winning entries in the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference art competition.  The competition, sponsored by the Society for American Baseball Research, celebrated “Black Baseball Heroes”. Winning art will be on exhibit at NAMOS beginning today in conjunction with the 14^th annual Conference in downtown Indianapolis and NAMOS’ 125 Years of Baseball Exhibit.

The winners of the Jerry Malloy Competition will be a special feature of the NAMOS exhibit, which honors 125 years of baseball in Indianapolis, and features nearly 50 pieces from the NAMOS permanent baseball collection.  Professional baseball has been played in Indianapolis each year since 1887 and the Indians are considered Indianapolis’ first professional sports team. The ten Jerry Malloy Competition Winners’ pieces will join the existing baseball exhibit for the duration of the exhibit, which runs until October 5, 2011.

Highlights in the baseball exhibit include graphite and ink originals by Sports Cartoonist of the 20^th Century, Willard Mullin; Negro Baseball League player sculptures by Hoosier-born Dan Edwards; "Cobb Slide" by Ray Ellis; and "Dem Bums Abroad" by John Groth.

“Due to the long and important history of Negro League Baseball in Indianapolis, we feel honored that we are able to include these works in our “125 Year History of Baseball” exhibit,” stated NAMOS Board Chairman, Patrick Perrella. 

Larry Lester, noted Negro Leagues historian added, “I think we’ve hit a homerun by partnering with NAMOS while we are in Indianapolis. We are honored that we have found a “home” for these great works to be displayed and a place where the Indianapolis community can come and celebrate the storied history of Black Baseball Heroes.”

The Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference Art Competition Winners are:

“Smokey Joe Williams” by Bill Cormalis Jr., Los Angeles, Cal, first place, professional category
“Satchel Paige” by Paul Lempa, Jersey City, NJ.,  runner-up,  professional category
“Gibson’s Guns” by Kyle Bannister, Littleton, Colo, runner-up, professional
“Color Ball” Michael Massenburg, San Diego, Cal., first place, amateur category
“Willie 8/15/54” by Bernie Hubert, Morristown, NJ, runner-up, amateur
“Joe Black” by Virginia Brennan, Nashville, Tenn., runner-up, amateur
“Martin Dihigo” by Gabriel Alantz, Sierra Vista, Ariz.,  runner-up, amateur
“Baseball Legs” by Seline Warrington, age 10, East Orange, N.J., first place, youth
“Jackie Robinson” by Amy Steverson, age 13, Maryville, Tenn., runner-up, youth
“Baseball Together” by Shania Franklin, age 8., East Orange, N.J., runner-up, youth

The Exhibit will celebrate the Opening on Thursday evening, July 21,2011 from 6 – 7pm. 

ABOUT NAMOS:

NAMOS was founded in 1959 and has one of the nation’s largest collections of fine art depicting sport. The collection includes over 900 paintings, photographs, sculptures and mixed media works representing over 40 sports.  NAMOS is a 501(c)3 dedicated to a two-pronged mission to encourage sport artists in their efforts to create sport art and to collect, preserve and share the best examples of sport art it can acquire.

NAMOS, located at Indiana University -- Purdue University is at 850 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202. Admission is free and operating hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays. For more information, please visit www.namos.iupui.edu.     

ABOUT JERRY MALLOY NEGRO LEAGUES CONFERENCE:

The purpose of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference is to encourage the study and research of African American baseball and its influence on society, sports history, and racial barriers.  The Conference promotes activities to enhance scholarly, educational, and literary objectives. It is America's original Negro League Conference and the first symposium since 1998 dedicated exclusively to the examination of African American baseball history.  It is hosted by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), a not-for-profit organization co-chaired by Dick Clark and Larry Lester.