Michael Henson ’25 recognizes that there aren’t many students with the dual passions of basketball and art history.
These interests made Henson, an art history major from Spartanburg, the ideal fit to curate an exhibition titled “Art of the Athlete” as a student intern with The Johnson Collection. The works are on display at The Johnson Collection Gallery in downtown Spartanburg now through June 21.
“Every spring, The Johnson Collection hires an intern from the art history department, and it worked out perfectly that I applied for that position when they were about to start this exhibition,” Henson says. “I happened to have a background in athletics. It was perfect timing for me to be able to help them out with that.”
Henson says The Johnson Collection began working on the exhibit more than a year before he arrived, but every piece in it was picked by him.
To make the gallery more collaborative between the worlds of arts and athletics, Henson sought insight from players and coaches about pieces in the exhibit. These include representatives from Wofford’s basketball team, Duke’s football team and UNC Chapel Hill’s football team, as well as Texas Rangers prospect Malcolm Moore, who currently plays for the Hub City Spartanburgers.
“Now, the people who come to the gallery can read the wall text next to the piece and go, ‘Oh, this is an assistant coach at Wofford, and he made these comments on this abstract piece,’” Henson says, “and it’s a way that we can get people that have a background in athletics to have a deeper appreciation for art.”
Henson’s love of art began with a class he took at Wofford with Dr. Gillian Young, assistant professor of art history. “It was really easy for me to pick up on the visual learning, and she was such a great professor,” Henson says. “I found out that I really enjoy looking at art and not just the visual aspects, but the historical context, biographies and other things like that.”
On the athletics side, Henson knows that he wants to be a basketball coach after he graduates. Wofford has been a huge help for him in achieving that goal, especially as student manager of the basketball team.
“It’s a full-time job. Most other programs at bigger schools have four or so assistant coaches, graduate assistants and a video coordinator and basketball ops team — all kinds of stuff like that,” Henson says. “At Wofford, with a smaller staff, managers have a chance to do a lot of things at a really young age to gain a lot of experience that they wouldn’t at a lot of other places.”
For Henson, that includes representing Wofford at the NCAA Tournament meetings, collaborating with athletics directors, full-time coaches and other upper-level workers in athletics departments across the county. He was often decades younger than those decisionmakers around him.
“The resume that I’ve built at Wofford, it’s just been a great opportunity that I’ve had,” Henson says.
Learn more about the “Art of the Athlete” exhibit.