HOOP DREAMS

Words by Turquoise Toppin GRANT HILL'S collection of African-American Art will make him a legend off the court. For the past twelve years, Grant Hill, Orlando Magic’s star guard-forward, has led the Detroit Pistons, the NBA All-Stars, several Olympic teams and, of course, the Magic to many victories. But as the 34-year-old looks beyond basketball, he wants to be remembered as more than one of the best all-around players of his generation. While his charitable work with Habitat for Humanity has led him to build homes for underprivileged families and he has volunteered with the organization Prevent Child Abuse America, Hill is turning a lifelong love of art into his most notable endeavor off the court. “It’s so important for people from all walks of life, young and old, to be exposed,” says Hill, who has served as an associate of the Orlando Museum of Art for three years. With a personal collection of more than eighty paintings, sculptures and castes by artists such as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Ernie Barnes and Arthello Beck Jr., he is considered one of the world’s premier collectors of African-American art. And after launching the two-and-a-half year-long tour of forty-six of these pieces, called “Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African-American Art,” he is also one of the world’s black art educators. Growing up in Reston, Virginia, Hill was surrounded by the paintings and sculptures that his parents, Janet and ex-Dallas Cowboys football player Calvin Hill, loved. “They were always passionate about art and enjoyed sharing their enthusiasm with family and friends,” he recalls. “Especially me.” In 1993, as his classmates at Duke University were decorating their rooms with beer posters and bikini calendars, the college junior hung a print of Ernie Barnes’ “Duke’s Fast Break,” a 1986 painting of the school’s basketball team, in his apartment. “It couldn’t have cost much,” he remembers about the purchase. “But I thought I was big time.” Regardless, it was nothing compared to what he paid for the authentic pieces he now owns. “Still, it goes to show that you can be a fan and support African-American artists without having to spend a lot of money.” SUBSCRIBE TO UPTOWN MAGAZINE