20 North Gallery presents pop-up exhibition of late Toledo artist LeMaxie Glover for Cranbrook Art Museum Research Team
Gallery installs curated selection of ceramic and metal sculpture for Martin Luther King Jr. weekend visit from Michigan museum
On January 16, 2026, 20 North Gallery welcomed the art research team of Cranbrook Art Museum (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan) to a special exhibition of sculpture by the late LeMaxie Glover. The installation, which was on view for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, featured several of Glover’s pedestal and wall-mounted works created in the 1950s-1970s.
20 North Gallery and select private collectors of LeMaxie Glover’s work, including the artist’s daughter, joined the artwork research team of Cranbrook Art Museum in discussing Glover’s legacy in the arts. Archival documents from Glover’s portfolio were available to view in conjunction with the pop-up exhibition.
Glover was a 1955 alumnus of the Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan), one of only three Black artists to study at that prestigious institution at that time. The same year, Glover became the first Black faculty member of the Cranbrook Academy.
The exhibition included terra cotta bust portraiture, bronze sculpture and copper bas relief, lent from private collections and the LeMaxie Glover Art Estate. Among these featured works was The Matador, a bronze on wood base, created at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. The California terra cotta on wood base, My Wife Mary, was complemented in the exhibit by a photograph of Glover sculpting this very portrait.
A museum-collected artist, LeMaxie Glover received his Bachelor of Education from what is now The University of Toledo (Ohio). After receiving his Master of Fine Arts at Cranbrook, Glover returned to Toledo in 1956 to dedicate his artistic and teaching talents to support the predominately Black central city community. In 1981, Glover retired as a Toledo Public School art instructor and prominent community leader.
20 North Gallery owner Eric Hillenbrand states, “It was an honor to present this spotlight exhibit for the Cranbrook Art Museum’s research team. We are proud to have, through the work of my first art director [the late] Peggy Grant, represented the legacy of this iconic Toledo artist since the inception of 20 North Gallery, more than thirty years ago—seeing so many of LeMaxie Glover’s historic artworks displayed here during this exclusive exhibition was profoundly moving to all of us who viewed the show.”
Also on view were two paintings by Adam Grant, who commissioned, collected and featured in his own paintings sculpture by LeMaxie Glover. The supplemental images selected in conjunction with the pop-up exhibition were Homage to LeMaxie Glover (1991) and The Blue Room (1982). Both paintings depict Glover’s 1964 Torso – a bronze-glazed sculpted ceramic on wood base, commissioned by Adam as a gift for Peggy Grant, for their tenth wedding anniversary.
LeMaxie Glover (b. 1916 – d. 1984)
LeMaxie Glover was born in Kellys, Georgia in 1916 and came to the Toledo (Ohio) area during the time now known as the Great Northern Migration in the years of industrial growth following WWI. In his youth, he studied art at Toledo Museum of Art, as well as at Macomber Technical High School of the Toledo Public Schools (TPS). A graduate of Libbey High School (TPS), Glover worked with the New York Central Railroad Company until, at the age of 34, he decided to enroll as a full-time student at what is now The University of Toledo (Ohio). In 1954 he received his Bachelor of Education degree. In 1955, through the support of two grants from Art Interests, Inc. and the patronage of Toledo’s prestigious William A. Gosline Scholarship provided by Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy, he received his Master of Fine Arts from the Cranbrook Academy (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan). At that time, he was one of only three Black artists ever to study at that prestigious institution. That same year, he became the first Black faculty member of Cranbrook. Further grants from the Toledo Museum of Art (Ohio) and the Toledo Board of Education enabled him to continue his artistic training through European travel and study.
In 1956, Glover graciously declined offers to teach at other universities to return to Toledo as an art instructor for Woodward High School (TPS) and later—in a conscious dedication to support the central city community—moved to Scott High School (TPS). In addition to teaching high school, Glover also served on the inaugural board of what is now The Arts Commission (Greater Toledo), as well as the director of the City of Toledo’s Arts & Crafts Program in the mid1960s. After 25 years of teaching, he retired in 1981.
His many solo and group exhibitions included yearly participation in the juried Toledo Area Artists Exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art and numerous community exhibits in public civic institutions and regional and national art museums, including the John Herron Art Institute (Indianapolis, Indiana) and his 1956 solo exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art. In 1973, Glover was the first recipient of the COBA Award (conferred by the Confederation of Black Artists). His many civic contributions included serving, in its inception, on the Minority Advisory Committee of the Board of the Toledo Museum of Art.
Glover’s work can be found in the permanent collections of the Basser Museum of Art (Alpena, Michigan), The University of Toledo, Toledo Federation of Art Societies – Schedel Arboretum & Gardens, numerous private collections throughout the country, as well as many secondary schools in the Toledo Public Schools system.
Mr. Glover died at age 67 in 1984, leaving behind a legacy of community service and dedication to educating the artists and art patrons of Toledo’s future.