Baseball Art Community to Plan All-Star Art Show

BaseballArt.com Founder Turns to Crowd-sourcing to Help Make Concept Reality

After a little more than a year of quiet community building, the baseball art community is now planning its first notable event — a virtual All-Star art exhibit which will coincide with the Major League Baseball All-Star festivities. The concept stemmed from a single Facebook status update posted on the Baseball Art page a few weeks ago by page administrator Chris S. Cornell.

He wrote, “I’ve been tossing an idea around in my head for a couple of weeks. Would love some feedback: All-Star Art Show — Curate a baseball art show featuring an All-Star player at every position. Quality of the player is obviously important, but judge(s) could (and should) be swayed by quality of the art…”

Cornell’s post quickly generated more than two dozen “likes” and comments, as well as several enthusiastic emails and comments on the Baseball Art website. “There is clearly interest from the artist community,” said Cornell, who said he has been looking for a way to take the baseball art community to the next level. “The Facebook page has really been a great thing. The community it has helped to generate has already led to some very positive results for baseball artists and fans of baseball art.”

The Baseball Art Facebook page has led directly to the sale of original paintings and prints for several artists, and there are now groups of baseball artists who share ideas about their art, as well as the marketing of their work. At least one original painting was also commissioned as a result of the Baseball Art Facebook page community.

All-Star Idea — Cornell says he envisions a series of art shows, each comprised of a collection of paintings — with each painting representing a spot on the All-Star Team(s) being featured in that show. “The idea of an All-Star show intrigues me,” said Cornell, who works as Director of Social Media for Thompson & Bender, a public relations, advertising and marketing agency in Westchester County, NY. Cornell has also owned and managed an award-winning art gallery and custom frame shop in Pleasantville, NY for the past 15 years.

“The All-Star theme would apply to the players featured as well as the artists,” said Cornell. “We will bring together the best artwork, depicting the best players and the best moments this great sport has provided for its fans. We can start out with current players, but the possibilities are endless. We might put together All-Time All-Star teams, or have a show featuring All-Stars at a specific position across the sport’s history. We could also have an All-Star show centered around a particular team, over its history.”

When asked to name a few of his favorite artists, Cornell paused. “I have my own personal favorites,” he said, “but that’s not at all what this show would be about. The purpose of this show would be to bring together the best baseball-themed art from all across America and beyond. The goal is to elevate this entire community.”

Cornell suggested that the show would likely be curated by a panel of judges familiar with baseball and respected for their knowledge of art. He added that some type of community judging could also be factored in to the equation. All details will be established before the launch of the project.

Rather than simply announcing the rules and launching the idea, Cornell has decided to first gather input from the Baseball Art community, and then refine the project before its launch. “I believe in the value of crowd sourcing,” said Cornell, “especially when you have such a knowledgable and talented pool of individuals in the community.”

The Baseball Art community includes world-class artists, former Major League players, successful marketers and promoters, as well as prominent collectors and hundreds of fans. “I am confident that after getting feedback on this idea, and utilizing some of the best ideas and suggestions, that we can put together a series of events that will generate national, and even international, publicity for the artists, and provide fans with an exceptional baseball art experience,” said Cornell. “I believe that Baseball Art — the entire community, that is — is on the verge of something big.”

Cornell pointed out that there are many baseball artists who are already making a name for themselves through various channels, including their websites and Facebook pages. Many have leveraged social media to gain exposure, shows and make sales of their art. Many of the artists and other members of the community have also gone out of their way to help build the entire community, not just their own personal careers.

One of the most successful and talented artists working in the field today is Graig Kreindler, who has turned his own Facebook page into an artist’s studio, where fans can literally see paintings take shape before their very eyes. Kreindler also takes time from his schedule to speak about his art to kids and adults alike. Kreindler was one of several artists who allowed their work to be used for a video about the Baseball Art community produced last year by Peter Barossi’s The Westchester Project. The video also featured paintings by Ron Stark, Andy Jurinko (who died this past February), Dick Perez, Arthur K. Miller, Neal Portnoy, Eric Velasquez, Jennifer Ettinger and Margie Lawrence.

There are many others who have made contributions to the Baseball Art community, including Kyle Bannister, Dave Choate, Benjamin Blackburn, Bernie Hubert, Paul Lempa, Brent Naughton,  John Yim, Brett Rudy, Jonathan Banchick, Lauren Creeden, Chris Ross, Ken Jones, Mark Ahrens, Ron Kaplan and Bill Chapman. “I’m counting on ideas and suggestions from these people and many others,” said Cornell.

Ideas Wanted -- Cornell invites all members of the Baseball Art community to join the conversation about this Baseball art All-Star event. Those interested can comment on the Facebook page, in the comments section below this post, or by sending an Email to Cornell at Chris@BaseballArt.com. All comments and suggestions will be reviewed and considered, said Cornell. “This will be a great experiment, ” he added. “I’m very enthusiastic to see where it leads.”

 

Tagged as: All-Star art, Baseball_Art