For some, leisure time means kicking back and watching the big game. For others, a stroll through an art museum may seem more appealing. For those looking for the perfect compromise, a trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ new exhibit “The Sports Show” provides the perfect blend.

The exhibit, which continues through May 13, is a rare attempt to combine the art and sports worlds.

Curator David Little says that, despite the fact that sports pervade nearly all facets of modern culture, the MIA is the first major art museum to look at its rise through an artistic lens.

“I think that sports is a subject that simply has not been of interest to many curators,” Little says. “Sometimes the most obvious cultural phenomena are overlooked.”

The exhibit traces the rise of global sports culture from the 19^th Century to the present using photographs, videos, and television clips of athletes and games to depict the evolution of sports events from community entertainment into media-driven spectacles with a mass audience.

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