MORGAN MONCEAUX CHAMPIONS: Celebrating “The League”

The Story of American Negro League Baseball in Portrait

September 29 - November 2, 2024 Opening Reception: Sunday, September 29th, 3-6 PM

More than sixty years after the end of the exciting era of “The League,” the performance stats of Negro League players were entered into official Major League Baseball records in 2024. CHAMPIONS celebrates the story of the Negro League teams, and coincides with the twentieth anniversary of New Door Creative Gallery.  

Negro League baseball emerged in the mid-1800s and was a forum for sports, entertainment, and athleticism for approximately one hundred years. This rich history of the teams and players is widely unknown. In 2014, internationally acclaimed portrait artist Morgan Monceaux debuted "ShadowBall", a collection of portraits celebrating the men and women of  American Negro League Baseball. Through the eyes of Monceaux, “ShadowBall" summons the excitement of what was always known as ‘America's favorite pastime.’ The collection features twenty-six Negro League baseball heroes and depicts in portrait and print the colorful legacy of The League. It chronicles a broader history of baseball champions while reflecting on the ongoing struggle for justice and equal rights in America.  

Inspired by the narratives of visionary artists, leaders, and cultural icons Monceaux is best known for his portrait depictions of political and cultural figures. He gained notoriety after creating his first portrait series, “GEORGE TO GEORGE,” which featured all the United States presidents, from George Washington to (then) George H. Bush. The collection has been exhibited at the Ford, Nixon, and Carter Presidential Libraries; and in 2013 at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. 

A true visionary artist and history buff, Monceaux’s combined passion for creative expression and research takes structure in the genre of mixed media portrait character series. He incorporates buttons, ribbons, sequins, wood, leather, fabric, and costume jewelry that are re-purposed, and fashioned for artistic and metaphoric intent.  

Additional Monceaux portraits series are: “The Royals”(international royalty); “Divas” (African American Opera vocalist), “My Heroes, My People. African Americans and Native Americans in the West”, and “Jazz Innovators” (musicians from the jazz and blues traditions). Four Jazz Innovator portraits are included in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.;  Ray Charles, Diana Washington, B.B, King, and Sun RA.