Art Meets Magic: Birmingham Museum of Art Kicks Off Classic Week With an HBCU Homecoming  

By Javacia Harris Bowser | For The Birmingham Times Football and fine art may seem like an unlikely pair, but the Birmingham Museum of Art is going to show that the two can go together with a special Exhibition Opening Celebration to kick off Magic City Classic Week. Set for October 20, this event will highlight the opening of two exhibitions: Hayward Oubre: Structural Integrity and Determined to Be: The Sculpture of John Rhoden. But this won’t be your average art show opening. The event will feature food trucks, face painting and live entertainment, including a warm welcome from the Lawson State Cheer Squad, a performance by Miles College Choir, and a drumline experience. Because both Oubre and Rhoden have ties to Alabama historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), the team at the BMA see these exhibitions as an artistic homecoming that deserves as much fanfare as the state of Alabama gives to football. Rhoden attended Talladega College, and Oubre established the art department at Alabama State University. “For two artists with deep HBCU legacies, it felt fitting to open their exhibitions during Magic City Classic Week,” said Katelyn D. Crawford, The William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at...