| Negro
Leagues ‘Heroes' Featured at Art Gallery |
By Leslie Perales
Observer Staff Writer |
| On March 29, Reston Town Center's ArtInsights will unveil
an exhibit of original artwork from the book "Heroes of the
Negro Leagues," written by Jack Morelli with artwork by Mark
Chiarello. |
| Chiarello originally created the watercolor paintings to
be used for one of the first sets of baseball cards for Negro
Leagues' players in 1990. Chiarello said that while visiting
the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, he and Morelli
saw an exhibit featuring Judy Johnson, a player they had never
heard of. After doing some research and learning about Johnson,
who played in the Negro Leagues, they wanted to ensure that
others would know more about the players in the leagues, he
said. |
| "These players are really my heroes," Chiarello said. "Just
because many of them are unknown doesn't mean they weren't
great baseball players and real sports heroes." |
| ArtInsights will display and offer for sale the original
watercolors used in both the baseball cards and the book,
which include players such as Biz Mackey, Roy Campanella and
Satchel Paige. |
| "So many people don't know some of the most important players
in the history of the Negro Leagues and baseball in general,"
said Leslie Combemale, who co-owns ArtInsights with Michael
Barry. "I feel that this is my opportunity to teach baseball
fans and art collectors about important players in baseball
that they wouldn't know about otherwise." |
| Combemale said she met Chiarello, art editor for D.C. Comics,
when he was doing art for the annual Star Wars Celebration
IV conference. "I looked up some of his other work and saw
the book, which hadn't come out yet, and the work was so beautiful,"
she said. |
| While creating the watercolors, Chiarello would look through
hundreds of photos of the players until he felt he found the
exact one he wanted, Combemale said. |
| "The hunt for existing photographs of some of these guys
was kind of rough because for some of the players there's
only one existing photograph," Chiarello said. "One of the
players I had a real hard time finding a good photograph of
and I have a friend who has his original passport." Chiarello
ended up basing his illustration for Hilton Smith off the
passport photo. |
| Combemale said the paintings are a work of love. "There's
a lot more to them than just a portrait of a baseball player,"
she said. "You have to see them to understand how beautiful
they are." |
| She said the Negro Leagues games were more exciting than
the major leagues because the games were faster and more entertaining
and often they played throughout the entire year. The players
made a fraction of what Major League Baseball players earned
and struggled with other barriers such as not being able to
find hotels or restaurants that would allow blacks, she said.
|
| "The really great thing is there are many incredible stories
about these players," Chiarello said. "As baseball fans you
hear the same stories of Babe Ruth over and over again." |
| He said he and Morelli realized that there are equally important
stories about the players in the Negro Leagues and the two
felt passionate about helping to tell the stories. "Heroes
of the Negro Leagues" covers the 60 best players as well as
a timeline of the Negro Leagues, he said. |
| In preparation for the exhibit's opening, Combemale has
been attempting to find local residents who attended Negro
League games played by the Homestead Grays of Homestead, Pa.
The team often played at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.,
which is now the site of Howard University Hospital. |
| In addition to working for D.C. Comics, Chiarello is doing
freelance work for a restaurant called National Pastime Sports
Bar and Grill at the Gaylord National Resort in Maryland.
He has also worked for Disney, Lucasfilm, Universal Pictures
and Topps, and has won awards for his work in the comic book
industry. |
| Chiarello will be at ArtInsights on March 29 from 2 to 5
p.m. for the opening of the exhibit, and the show is scheduled
to run through May 30. |
