American artists tackle the gridiron.

• Position: Sportscene - "Scrimmage: Football in American Art from the Civil War to the Present" exhibition

"The exhibition is not meant to present a history of football--the development of rules and gradual changes in play, the history of teams or players--but instead offers a window to understanding themes central to American life, both past and current."

THE EXHIBIT "Scrimmage: Football in American Art from the Civil War to the Present" is the first comprehensive assembly of work by prominent American artists focusing on football, including paintings, prints, sculptures, and new media. "Scrimmage" details action on the gridiron from the end of the Civil War to the present, exploring themes such as race, teamwork, and competition for viewers to examine today.

This 60-piece exhibition developed as curators discovered that a host of prominent U.S. artists had pictured aspects of football and the public culture surrounding the sport, yet no focused art historical study had examined these images.

The exhibition is not meant to present a history of football--the development of rules and gradual changes in play, the history of teams or players--but instead offers a window to understanding themes central to American life, both past and current. As such, the exhibit explores these images from multiple perspectives and themes.

The Canton (Ohio) Museum of Art--Canton also is home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame--where "Scrimmage" is on view through Oct. 29, invites visitors to engage in a dialogue about sports and art and their roles in our history and culture, and to reflect on how these images reveal attitudes and transitions in American life.

The exhibition is divided into eight sections:

Football: the Spectator Sport. How did football, which began as a private extracurricular activity for a small group of young men, become the public spectacle we know today? Early on, the sport was embraced by college administrators who saw benefits, including the potential for financial gain--contributions from alumni and institutional-giving loyalty--and increased interest from the press.

This exhibition examines the public culture of football as spectator sport. Football soon developed a culture separate from play on the field--bands, cheerleaders, mascots, team colors, pep rallies, homecoming, and parades all were introduced early in the sport's history. These remain vital parts of the culture and have led to modern-day fan-driven activities, such as tailgating, team merchandising, and extensive half-time extravaganzas brought to mega-size scale at the Super...