HOOP DREAMS
Grant Hill
Words by Andre J Durall
GRANT HILL'S collection of African-American Art will make him a legend off the court.For the past twelve years, Grant Hill, Orlando Magic’s star guard-forward, has led the Detroit Pistons, the NBA All-Stars, several Olympic teams and, of course, the Magic to many victories. But as the 34-year-old looks beyond basketball, he wants to be remembered as more than one of the best all-around players of his generation. While his charitable work with Habitat for Humanity has led him to build homes for underprivileged families and he has volunteered with the organization Prevent Child Abuse America, Hill is turning a lifelong love of art into his most notable endeavor off the court. “It’s so important for people from all walks of life, young and old, to be exposed,” says Hill, who has served as an associate of the Orlando Museum of Art for three years. With a personal collection of more than eighty paintings, sculptures and castes by artists such as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Ernie Barnes and Arthello Beck Jr., he is considered one of the world’s premier collectors of African-American art. And after launching the two-and-a-half year-long tour of forty-six of these pieces, called “Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African-American Art,” he is also one of the world’s black art educators.
Grant Hill
Words by Andre J Durall
GRANT HILL'S collection of African-American Art will make him a legend off the court.For the past twelve years, Grant Hill, Orlando Magic’s star guard-forward, has led the Detroit Pistons, the NBA All-Stars, several Olympic teams and, of course, the Magic to many victories. But as the 34-year-old looks beyond basketball, he wants to be remembered as more than one of the best all-around players of his generation. While his charitable work with Habitat for Humanity has led him to build homes for underprivileged families and he has volunteered with the organization Prevent Child Abuse America, Hill is turning a lifelong love of art into his most notable endeavor off the court. “It’s so important for people from all walks of life, young and old, to be exposed,” says Hill, who has served as an associate of the Orlando Museum of Art for three years. With a personal collection of more than eighty paintings, sculptures and castes by artists such as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Ernie Barnes and Arthello Beck Jr., he is considered one of the world’s premier collectors of African-American art. And after launching the two-and-a-half year-long tour of forty-six of these pieces, called “Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African-American Art,” he is also one of the world’s black art educators.
Growing up in Reston, Virginia, Hill was surrounded by the paintings and sculptures that his parents, Janet and ex-Dallas Cowboys football player Calvin Hill, loved. “They were always passionate about art and enjoyed sharing their enthusiasm with family and friends,” he recalls. “Especially me.” In 1993, as his classmates at Duke University were decorating their rooms with beer posters and bikini calendars, the college junior hung a print of Ernie Barnes’ “Duke’s Fast Break,” a 1986 painting of the school’s basketball team, in his apartment. “It couldn’t have cost much,” he remembers about the purchase. “But I thought I was big time.” Regardless, it was nothing compared to what he paid for the authentic pieces he now owns. “Still, it goes to show that you can be a fan and support African-American artists without having to spend a lot of money.”
After being drafted into the NBA by the Detroit Pistons a year later, Hill moved into his first apartment and began collecting in earnest. “I wanted art like the art I grew up with,” Hill, who was a history major at Duke, explains about his first acquisitions. This is evident in the number of Beardens and Catletts he owns, both of whom are among his parents’ favorites. “Bearden is able to tastefully capture the joy, excitement and pain of the life of the nineteenth century African American, and I respect the strong and powerful way Catlett pays homage to women in general.”
Also like his parents, Hill enjoys sharing his passion with others. “The only thing on my wall growing up was the picture of Black Jesus at the Last Supper,” admits his wife, the Grammy-nominated singer Tamia. “Grant taught me about art, and I’ve enjoyed collecting with him.” Working with Hill’s mother’s longtime friend Dr. Alvia J. Wardlaw (associate professor of Art History at Texas Southern University and the director and curator of the University Museum at Texas Southern University), the couple decided to organize Something All Our Own. “We wanted to bring people into the museums to view African-American art,” Hill explains, adding that he and his wife also sponsored class trips to the host museums to give children the opportunity to view the exhibit. For those who did not see the historic tour, they released an illustrated catalogue, with essays by notable art historians including Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, adjunct Associate Professor in African American Studies at Yale University, and Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center at Spelman College.
Now that the tour has ended, the power couple is broadening their collection. “Up until this point, I’d focused on the African-American masters,” says Hill, whose interest has most recently been piqued by abstract expressionist painter Norman Lewis. “Now, I’m looking at other cultures, as well as contemporary African-American artists. Really, though, it’s whatever stands out and speaks to me.” Which is why whatever direction his professional career takes in the coming years, it’s clear that Hill will continue to rank highly as one of the art world’s key players.
