Negro Leagues Baseball Exhibit Opens At Passaic Arts Center

HAWTHORNE, NJ — The Passaic County Arts Center will debut a new exhibit Saturday, and it celebrates an often overlooked part of baseball history.

"Shades of Greatness" a collaborative art exhibition, was developed by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and first debuted to the public in August 2003.

The exhibit features 35 original works produced by 28 artists from across the country inspired by the Negro League experience, both on and off the field.

Kadir Nelson, an American visual artist whose work has been featured on New Yorker covers, as well as the cover of a Michael Jackson's posthumous 'Michael' album, and Drake's 'Nothing Was the Same', is one of the premier artists to contribute work.

The exhibit will highlight the grand reopening of the Arts Center, scheduled for Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In addition to the "Shades of Greatness" exhibit, the center will display "Hincheliffe Stadium & Its Legacy," a collection of works inspired by the Paterson stadium, where the New York Black Yankees played home games for a decade.

A live renactment of a 19th-century baseball game is scheduled at 11 a.m., featuring the Brooklyn Atlantics and Elizabeth Resolutes.

Admission to the galleries is free to the public, but, for the time being, the Arts Center is operating with limited hours, open on Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.