Kelvin and Jessica Beachum

Collectors, Phoenix

An acclaimed sportsman who plays for the National Football League (NFL), currently with the Arizona Cardinals, Kelvin Beachum has another passion, one that he shares with his wife, Jessica – collecting contemporary art. Since buying their first piece in 2013, the Arizona-based couple have built up a collection of work primarily by Black American artists including Ferrari Sheppard, Nelson Makamo and Dominic Chambers. On their wish list are works by Titus Kaphar, Julie Mehretu and Jadé Fadojutimi. The pair share the Jessica & Kelvin Beachum Family Collection with the public via exhibitions – most recently, at Jessica’s alma mater of Baylor University in Texas, and at Kelvin’s, the Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas. The thread connecting all the works they collect is ‘Black joy, reality, and aspiration’, as Valerie Gillispie, curator of the SMU exhibition, has put it.

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