A new art exhibit opened on SMU’s campus Thursday, highlighting works from the private collection of Alumnus and Arizona Cardinal offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum and his wife Jessica.
'Narrative as Reality: a World Reimagined' is on display in the Hamon Arts Library.
It features the couple’s personal collection, which they began on their honeymoon in 2013.
It contains works created by contemporary Black artists including Dominic Chambers, Ryan Cosbert, Robert Hodge, Nelson Makamo, Delita Martin, Sungi Mlengeya, Mario Moore, Robert Pruitt, Athi-Patra Ruga, and Ferrari Sheppard.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Each piece in the collection has a story that resonated with the Beachums and presents a narrative on the Black experience.
“We started to realize that there are a lot of artists that just, one, don’t get attention, and two, don’t get exposure. So a lot of the works that we brought in today were to bring awareness to a lot of these artists, to bring awareness to their work, to their practice, build scholarship around their work, build exposure around their work, because being able to have the work here in Texas is something that doesn’t happen here quite a bit. So we want it to be part of that journey for them,” said Kelvin Beachum.
The couple said they hope by sharing their art with SMU, they can spark a conversation.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
The exhibit runs through May 22.
Next, the Beachums said they hope they can share the work with Baylor where Jessica graduated in 2011.
