“A Sporting Chance: On and Off the Field” (Feb. 2024–Dec. 2024)

Curated at The History Center of Tompkins County with Cindy Kjellander-Cantu, “A Sporting Chance: On and Off the Field” featured the people, traditions, and stories behind popular local sports. While I assisted with many aspects of this exhibit, I curated two specific display cases: “Dragon Boating in Ithaca” and “Local Baseball: America’s Pastime”

“Dragon Boating in Ithaca,” developed in collaboration with the Ithaca Asian American Association, traces the ancient origins of the sport and its more modern origins in Ithaca, highlighting the story and video footage of the Ithaca Dragon Boat Club’s first race in 2004.

“Local Baseball: America’s Pastime” explores baseball through the lens of Adrian Cooper, who was a Black ball boy and mascot for the Ithaca Colored Vets in Ithaca in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Local baseball artifacts and photos are displayed while audio excerpts from Cooper’s oral history play on a kiosk.