https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/2/16/features-art-and-basketball-maxwell-pearce-using-passions-to-positively-impact-others.aspx
Art and basketball: Maxwell Pearce using passions to positively impact others
Former Division III basketball player now plays for Harlem Globetrotters, a renowned artist
By Corbin McGuire
Art and basketball are lifelong passions for Maxwell Pearce. His time at Purchase College, a Division III school in his home state of New York, led to a life using both passions to positively impact the world in ways he never imagined.
Pearce, once a “ridiculously fearful and shy” child, is now someone children look up to as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters. In his role, Pearce performs in front of and speaks to thousands of people.
“Every time I have an experience that kind of wows me, I just think back to how shy of a kid I was. Even if I knew the right answer, I would not raise my hand to answer. I was terrified to speak in front of my classmates,” Pearce said. “So to be able to be outside of my comfort zone enough to gain that confidence and see that growth is probably the most rewarding part of my journey thus far.”
Pearce’s journey also includes becoming a nationally renowned artist whose work most notably highlights athletes who use their platform to speak out against injustices. His inspiration for creating this uplifting work came from a racially insensitive incident he experienced while being interviewed on live TV in Birmingham, Alabama, during which the interviewers threw a banana and other fruit at him. After months of reflection, Pearce responded by putting out an informative video of the incident and the racial history behind it, only to be overwhelmed by backlash online.
“One of the main things that people were telling me was just shut up and dribble,” Pearce said.
So he decided to use his “art as another form of expression.”
Since then, his work has been exhibited at N’namdi Contemporary during Miami Art Basel 2022, MILE 44 in Los Angeles, and Prizm Art Fair during Miami Art Basel 2023. These exhibitions led to pieces being acquired by the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Diversity Museum of Art and Culture in Pittsburgh and the Westchester County Sports Hall of Fame in New York, among others. He also has provided designs for the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative, which allows players to express their commitment to the causes that are most important to them. One of his pieces will be displayed during the 2024 NBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, where he’ll also speak to the students selected to be part of the league’s HBCU Student Art Showcase.
“I think it’s therapeutic. It also gives me an opportunity to express myself,” Pearce said of his art. “Being that I was a kid who was extremely shy and didn’t want to speak in front of crowds or anything like that for the longest time, art was my way of communicating what I wanted to without having to actually physically speak in front of people. So I think that’s ultimately how I was able to use art as an outlet for certain things.
“Now I’m still using art as another outlet to start conversations that are important and just express things that I feel that need to be expressed.”
