The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) debuts its latest MEGA-Exhibition—Good Sports: The Wisdom & Fun of Fair Play—Sunday, October 13, 2024. The exhibition, located on the 2nd floor of the Zanvyl A. Krieger Main Building, will weave together art created by global and local visionary artists focused on both sports and play imagery, as well as  film, photography, sculpture, fascinating sports medicine factoids, and quotes reflecting the wisdom of sports legends.

The exhibition will feature works such as the intricately painted baseballs of George Sosnak (1924-1992), the fascinating to-scale cardboard monuments of Kambel Smith, and the hypnotic needlework of AVAM fan-favorite Deborah Berger (1956–2005). Curated by Gage Branda, Good Sports brings a wide and creative view of both the history and current state of sports—one full of fun, wisdom, and passion—all to exalt sports as one of humankind’s most fabulous avenues for becoming our very best selves.

The educational opportunities provided by this exhibition are prolific: Good Sports will investigate humanity’s enduring preoccupation with competitive athleticism in an effort to better understand our human nature, offering an innovative perspective on what it means to be a “good sport.” Students of all ages will be able to glean a renewed sense of healthy competition in an unconventional environment—among artwork that inspires curiosity, growth, and thinking outside the box.

While praising the capacity of sports to impart important ethical lessons of fairness and civility, this exhibition will not ignore the dark underbelly of competition and its potential for corruption: rigging, drugging, greed, gambling, injury, exclusion, and woeful race and gender discrimination. AVAM has always challenged its visitors to engage with its exhibitions in a way that leads to positive transformation, broader perspectives, and a stronger sense of intersectional unity—this exhibition is no exception.

Curator Gage Branda says, “In a time with such division, it is my hope that in some small way this exhibition encourages people to continue to respect their ‘rivals’ and treat any field of engagement—from a race for the last parking spot in the lot, to a race for the gold in the Olympics—with grace.”

Good Sports: The Wisdom & Fun of Fair Play opens Sunday, October 13, 2024 at the American Visionary Art Museum. Join us for our Exhibition Opening Party that evening (free for members) 7-10 PM or plan your future visit at www.avam.org/visit.