History

LeRoy Neiman Gallery at the Ali Center

LEROY NEIMAN GALLERY

The LeRoy Neiman Gallery is located on the second level, just down the hall from the Main Lobby and adjacent to the Auditorium. The unique two-level 1,600 square foot space gallery contains LeRoy Neiman artwork of Muhammad Ali throughout the room, giving the space a warm and colorful feel.

LeRoy Neiman was an American artist known for his brilliantly colored, expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes, musicians, and sporting events. Mr. Neiman’s Impressionistic paintings in “Muhammad Ali, LeRoy Neiman, and the Art of Boxing” are brilliantly colored, some dashed off quickly, as if he were trying to catch up to the immediacy of a photograph, or a punch, “LeRoy Neiman was able to capture the motion” Marilyn Satin Kushner, curator of the Kalinsky photos, said. Mr. Neiman, who died in 2012, was a boldface personality and self-made celebrity who painted and sketched on live television. Mr. Neiman met the Ali first, in 1962, in the dressing room of St. Nicholas Arena in Manhattan, where the brash 20-year-old was about to fight Billy Daniels.

The story goes, Mr. Neiman was sketching Ali, contemplative, with his hands taped and about to have his gloves fitted. The curious boxer grabbed the sketchbook.

“I can do that,” he told Mr. Neiman. “Gimme that thing.”

And he drew a small picture of himself, as well as a jet and a sleek car with tail fins and signed it: “By the Great Cassius Clay. Next Champ. By 1963.”

Mr. Neiman often noted that he saw his paintings as semi-journalistic chronicles. Tara Zabor, director of operations at the LeRoy Neiman Foundation, said: “He recorded everything that happened around him. He treated his sketchbooks as a kind of journal. He wrote what was happening so he could tell the story.”

leroy neiman

The Muhammad Ali Center will be going BOGO for the Republic Bank First Friday Hop so bring a friend and enjoy buy one get one free every First Friday.

Guided by Muhammad Ali’s six core principles, the Muhammad Ali Center features an interactive museum, educational programming, and special events to inspire young adults and adults to pursue greatness in their own lives, communities and countries.

Muhammad Ali Center is a cultural attraction and international educational center designed to inspire a journey to achieve personal and global greatness through the six core principles lived by Muhammad Ali. The six core principles are Confidence, Conviction, Dedication, Giving, Respect and Spirituality. The center offers programming and social initiatives around social issues such as education, gender equality and global citizenship.

The center itself features a non-traditional visitor museum experience, educational and public programming, and global initiatives, the Ali Center reaches beyond its physical walls to fulfill its mission: To preserve and share the legacy and ideals of Muhammad Ali, to promote respect, hope and understanding, and to inspire adults and children everywhere to be as great as they can be.

Last admission is at 4:15 p.m. EST each day.
ADMISSION*
$12 Adults
$11 Seniors (65+)
$8 Military
$8 Students with ID
$7 Children (6-12)

*Additional charges apply for visiting temporary exhibits.

Members and children five and under are free. For groups of 20 or more, contact Morgan Szabo at 502.992.5340 or mszabo@alicenter.org for special rates.