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Black College Band Photo Exhibition set
for Dallas
August 9, 2004
Dallas, TX – Dallas-based BSPIN Media Group has reached
an agreement with the African-American Museum of Dallas to
collaborate on a watershed photo exhibition, And
the Band Played On: What Really Brings People to Black College
Football Games.
The exhibition will be housed at the African American Museum,
in the Rotunda Gallery, during the Texas State Fair and the
annual Prairie View vs. Grambling football game. The exhibition
will run from September 10-October 17th with an opening reception
planned.
“This partnership affords us an opportunity to extend
the reach of BSPIN (Black Sports Information Network) into
a new arena of educating the public. Black College Bands
have played an integral role in Black College Football, as
well as at many of America’s most prominent events,” said
John Posey, CEO/Founder of BSPIN Media Group. “I would
like to extend my thanks to Dr. Harry Robinson for having
the vision to make this project a reality. His work has created
a positive learning environment for children and adults interested
in the Black experience.”
Curated by Posey and Phillip Collins of the African American
Museum, the exhibition documents historical performances
by HBCU marching bands in an entertaining and educational
fashion. The photographic and multimedia exhibition will
be designed around themes such as: Drum Lines; Halftime is
Showtime; Drum Majors; and HBCU Dance Teams. The exhibition
will have special emphasis on Prairie View A&M, Southern
University and Grambling. There will be a special display
area featuring the Prairie View “Funk Machine” one
of today’s
most exciting drumlines. There will also be a section of
the exhibit highlighting the movie, DrumLine.
The exhibition will house approximately eighty color and
black & white images from the collection of John Posey
and Mercedes Posey. Posey is a noted sports photo journalist
who also publishes Urban Sports News. He is a graduate of
Dartmouth College. Mercedes Posey is a college student who
attended Howard University on a volleyball scholarship. She
learned photography at the age of ten and, most recently,
was a finalist for the College Photographer of the Year.
She will assist in the selection and placement of images.
“And the Band Played On is close to my heart because
it represents a body of work that is important to everyone,
yet has garnered so little attention,” added Posey. “I
have shot many of these schools when only a handful of journalists
covered the game, so I’m glad to see Black College
Bands being recognized by the mainstream press and fans.”
BSPIN Media Group has covered many of the Black College
football teams in the country since the early 1990s. As
a result, the firm has developed a large photo archive
of many of the most exciting bands on the scene including:
Southern University, Bethune Cookman, Clark Atlanta University,
Grambling, North Carolina A&T, Howard, Paul Quinn,
University of Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Alabama State, Jackson
State, Prairie View, Alcorn State, Mississippi Valley State,
Alabama A&M, Florida A&M, Virginia State, Tuskeegee,
Tennessee State and Johnson C. Smith.
“It is the mission of And the
Band Played On to serve
as a reminder about this exciting and educational aspect
of Black history,” explained Posey. “How many
people know that Cannonball and Nat Adderly played in the
Florida A&M Marching 100? Or that Black College bands
have performed at Super Bowls, the Olympics, Presidential
Inaugurations, commercials and music videos.”
And the Band Played On will ultimately be shaped
into a traveling exhibition in 2005. Posey would like to
see the exhibition rotate between Black Colleges, museums,
HBCU football classics and homecomings.
“We are actively seeking corporate partners to work
with us on this project,” said Posey. “We are
looking for a title sponsor and a sponsor underwriter for
the exhibition print materials. We are looking to take the
exhibit to one or two special events in late 2004.”
Founded in 1974 as part of the Bishop College Special Collection,
the African American Museum is located in historic Fair Park
and boasts the Southwest’s largest folk art collection.
The Museum also houses the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame.
The African American Museum is a Smithsonian affiliate and
is supported in part by funds from the City of Dallas Office
of Cultural Affairs, Texas Commission on the Arts and the
National Endowment for the Arts.
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