The Zebra Gallery Invites you to attend opening night of the exhibit “Basketballs and Buffalos” on Friday, June 6th

Shelton Hawkins, or “Coach Hawkins” as many know him, of Easton, MD, will have his second annual basketball-themed event at the gallery. This show called “For Love of the Game” will feature his basketball courts painted all over the world.

“For the Love of the Game” will feature Hawkins’ photography, paintings and drone work, which captures the bright, multi-colored basketball courts that he has painted across the globe.
After his cousin passed away at the basketball court at Idlewild Park in Easton, Hawkins spent a decade trying to get the court refurbished. After years of writing the town, in 2019, with the help of now Mayor Megan Cook, Hawkins got the go-ahead to breathe life back into and paint the courts at Idlewild Park and Moton Park.

“The very next court we did was LeBron James’ court,” he said. “My life took off after that. ”Hawkins has painted courts all over the world, from Easton to Tokyo. His non-profit “Play in Color” was born! This effort is not a solo one. Generally, when he goes to a new place for a project, Hawkins said he tries to work with a local artist. One of his favorite collaborations was with artist James Little in Memphis, and he will have new surprises to share this year, too!

In addition, The Zebra Gallery is pleased to introduce you to another native of Easton, April Claggett.

April will display a group of paintings she calls “Entanglements.” This work from Africa does not depict suffering but a symbolic realm where the longing for wholeness, even perhaps with things antithetical or past, can be real and present. Simple fictions of accompaniment in daywork and daydreams—playful, mysterious, absurd, violent—inhabit indeterminate spaces.