A night at the museum: Graig Kreindler

September 10, 2014

I don’t need an excuse to visit the Yogi Berra Museum. For one thing, it’s almost a Roberto Clemente throw from my house. For another, they always have great events with interesting guests. (The only problem is parking. Hey, Dave Kaplan, work on that, okay?)

Last night the Museum hosted an opening reception for “The Luckiest Man” program, in recognition of the 75h anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s famous farewell address. The exhibit features archival video, rare photographs and artifacts, and a massive painting of Gehrig’s July 4, 1939 farewell at Yankee Stadium by artist Graig Kreindler, who specializes in painstakingly-researched baseball scenes and portraits (including Moe Berg, Sandy Koufax, and Hank Greenberg).

The exhibit also pays tribute to Pete Frates, the former Boston College baseball captain, who was stricken by Lou Gehrig Disease in 2012 and is the inspiration behind the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness and research funds for ALS.

For me, last night’s highlight was finally meeting Kreindler and his lovely bride, Sarvenaz. I first came across his work seven years ago when he was doing a painting for…the Yogi Berra Museum (circle of life).

KaplanKreindler

We’ve chatted off and on over the years, but it was nice doing the face-to-face thing. Found out we have a mutual MOT/Lou Gehrig connection: Jonathan Eig, author of perhaps the definitive Gehrig bio (as well as a recap of Jackie Robinson’s first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers) has been a friend of his since childhood.

For more information about the exhibit, visit the Yogi Berra Museum website.

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