The art collection of Shirley and Bernard Kinsey (right) will be on exhibit in SoFi Stadium. The collection is curated by their son, Khalil (center).
Palisades residents Bernard and Shirley Kinsey and the couple’s art and artifacts collection was featured in the January 28 L.A. Daily News (“Creative Works, Creative Displays: SoFi Stadium is the latest unconventional setting for the Kinsey Collection of African American Art and Its Mission of Education”).
The story notes that the Kinseys initially settled in a small house off Crenshaw Boulevard in Inglewood.
“The couple, who met while attending Florida A&M University, shared a passion for traveling and collecting art. Through the years, the Kinseys have amassed a sizable collection of art and artifacts that has turning into a touring exhibition known as The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection.”
Now the couple’s art will be displayed in SoFi Stadium, less than a mile from the Kinseys’ first home. Shirley told the Daily News that “It’s a full-circle moment for us. It really feels like we’re coming back home.”
Opening February 23, in celebration of Black History Month, the work will be on display from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through April. Tickets and information: sofistdium.com.
The show is curated by the Kinseys’ son, Khalil, and historian Larry Earl. The exhibition focuses on the lives, accomplishments and brilliance of African Americans from the 16th century through the years of slavery and emancipation to the civil rights movement through modern day.
The News writes, “Some of the standout items in the exhibition include a painting and sculpture by May Howard Jackson, who was born in 1877 and would become the first African American woman to attend the Pennsylvania Academe of the Fine Arts.
“There’s a large, abstract landscape painting by Richard Mayhew, 97, an activist and artist living and working in Santa Cruz.
“There are also several works by late artist and former San Diego Charger Ernie Barnes, including the 1971 painting known as ‘High Aspirations’ and another titled ‘The Maestro,’ which the Kinseys said were so powerful that they had to display them together.”
Why SoFi? Kahlil said, “We want to try to engage people who normally wouldn’t walk through the doors of a museum or who might not feel welcome in a museum, so we want to get their attention.”