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Renowned accessories designer and author of Courting Kings, Remo Tulliani, is happy to announce that $25.00 from each Courting Kings book sold on Tulliani.com until the end of 2017 will be donated to The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Courting Kings profiles 20 men, all “kings” of their respective industries, delivering introspective, inspiring, aspirational profiles of each detailing their personal journeys to greatness, including the closing chapter where the late Muhammad Ali is interviewed. The title will be available starting December 1 on Amazon.com, Tulliani.com and select high-end retailers across the country.
Remo Tulliani, founder of his namesake accessories brand, Remo Tulliani, sees donating to The Muhammad Ali Center as “A wonderful way to tribute such an inspiring human being who I looked up to and saw as a mentor as well. The stars also aligned with the book launch timing and holidays; it’s a season to especially embrace the giving spirit.”
The Muhammad Ali Center promotes the Six Core Principles of Muhammad Ali, one of which is “giving”. With the holidays around the corner, Remo Tulliani wanted to honor the legacy of Muhammad by giving back to the organization charged with preserving and sharing the legacy of global humanitarian and the Greatest boxer to ever fight.
The mission of the Muhammad Ali Center is to preserve and share the legacy and ideals of Muhammad Ali, to promote respect, hope, and understanding, and to inspire adults and children everywhere to be as great as they can be. “Muhammad Ali was once the King of Boxing, so it is befitting that he would be featured in Remo Tulliani’s Courting Kings,” said Donald Lassere, president and CEO of the Muhammad Ali Center. “We are extremely grateful to Remo for wanting to donate proceeds from this book to the one and only organization in the world charged with preserving and sharing the late Muhammad Ali’s legacy.”
The Muhammad Ali Center, which opened twelve years ago this month, will be undergoing major renovations that include a complete redesign of its Main Lobby, the Ali Center Store, and Group Entrance. Beyond the normal wear & tear from an approximate 1.2 million visitors over the past dozen years, these enhancements will provide the Center the opportunity to deliver a better overall visitor experience and more contemporary private event space. Additionally, the much needed upgrades will offer a fresh and modern appearance to its retail store, while also supplying better functionality. A major part of the overall improvements will be a custom designed terrazzo floor in the Main Lobby, which will present a striking and welcoming impression upon entering the Center, and provide better durability for this high traffic area.
The renovations, expected to begin in mid-January 2018, will take about three months to complete. While public access to the Ali Center will be affected during this time, visitors will still have access to most areas of the Center, including its 2-1/2 levels of award-winning exhibits and most private event spaces. The Ali Center Store, now located next to the Main Lobby, will be temporarily moved to the Ina B. Bond Gallery on the Center’s Fourth Floor. It is expected that the Ali Center will be closed to visitors from January 8-14, and will re-open on January 15 for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
The firm responsible for the project is Patrick D. Murphy Architects.
“These improvements will create a more vibrant and impactful experience for our visitors,” said Donald Lassere, president and CEO of the Muhammad Ali Center, “and we are grateful to our donors and other supporters who are making this possible.”
Photo: Muhammad Ali Center
In the Shadows: Photography Exhibit by Howard Bingham opens to the public during a special “Night at the Museum” on Wednesday, July 5th from 5:00-8:00 p.m. at the Muhammad Ali Center. The exhibit, which is on display until January 21, 2018 and included in admission, contains over 50 carefully selected images photographs by Muhammad Ali’s best friend, who was also his personal photographer for over 50 years. Bingham passed away in December 2016.
In the Shadows features never-before-seen photos taken over four decades of Bingham’s career, capturing significant historical events in the United States, from social activism to pop culture, while revealing intimate photos of Muhammad Ali. This exhibit illuminates the relationship that the Ali Center shared with Howard in his role as the Center’s Honorary Curator of Photography, former Board Member of the Center, and as an unforgettable longtime friend of Muhammad Ali.
“Having Howard’s photographs displayed at the Center in the year following both he and The Champ’s passing is a demonstration of the greatness that both men have achieved during their time here on earth and the bond they shared for decades,” said Jeanie Kahnke, spokesperson for the Ali Center. “We hope that the community can come to experience new dimensions of both Howard and Muhammad’s intertwined legacies.”
The exhibit opens during a special preview night as part of the “I Am Ali” Festival on July 5th. “Night at the Museum” includes “open air” gallery talks throughout the evening about In the Shadows and Howard Bingham with the Center’s collections department, a discount admission price of $7 to the Center’s exhibits, and a performance by Commonwealth Theatre Center at 6:30 p.m. The performance will consist of a series of staged readings devised by artists and playwrights based on community reflections about Muhammad Ali’s Six Core Principles.
Breaking Barriers: Sports for Change exhibit, presented by ESPN® and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, opens to the public at the Ali Center on May 25th. The exhibit invites visitors to walk among giants like Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, and Billie Jean King. Breaking Barriers: Sports for Change is included in the “I Am Ali” festival, the six-week, community-wide festival celebrating the life and legacy of Muhammad Ali, taking place from June 3-July 15, 2017.
Said Jeanie Kahnke, Sr. Director of Public Relations and External Affairs, “The Ali Center is honored to offer this exhibit, for it demonstrates ways in which athletes—including Muhammad Ali—have utilized sport as a platform to transform social issues and to raise awareness of how sport can be used to unite people and open doors.”
This traveling exhibit tells the story of how athletes have used their celebrity to fight for social change. It includes interactive displays that show how some of history’s super athletes like Muhammad Ali, Martina Navratilova, Jesse Owens and Terry Fox scaled to the heights of sports by defying expectations and restrictions levied by governments, advertisers, and spectators alike. In doing so, they became potent symbols that helped drive movements that changed sports and society.
Derreck Kayongo, CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights said, “Similar to Ali’s legacy, the exhibit shares how athletes have empowered people to stand up and protect human rights. Their courageous struggles in America and around the globe gave people everywhere the strength to persevere and make change happen in their communities.”
To learn more about Breaking Barriers: Sports for Change visit sports4change.net.