We congratulate Gary Cypres for his extraordinary contributions to the cultural landscape of Los Angeles. Cypres is the Founder and CEO of the Sports Museum of Los Angeles, and has served on MOCA’s Board of Trustees. Currently, an exhibition of his baseball-related folk art collection “Baseball: The All-American Game” is now on view at the Craft and Folk Art Museum through September 9. 

If you have the opportunity to see the exhibition, keep a careful eye for a work by Alison Saar titled Bat Boyz, a contemporary wood carving of Negro League figures, formed from baseball bats. More of Alison’s work is also on display at the Descanso Gardens, and will be included in a solo exhibition at Otis College of Art and Design in the fall. 

images top: “Strike-em-Out Batter” and Catcher, Strike-em Out Baseball Company, paint on cast metal, iron, steel, leather, fabric, patented 1929; bottom: Alison Saar, Bat Boyz, 2001, baseball bats, tar, dimensions variable. 

Courtesy of the Craft and Folk Art Museum and Gary Cypres