It rained on the ceremony to officially open the Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds courts at Murray Park in Long Island City. Nature challenged us to play and work within its system. But, there was a lesson about water hovering just beyond my awareness, and the more I spoke with Edgar Heap of Birds that day, the more I understood its significance.
Read MoreWhereas Hoops holds a St. Louis Park accountable
Forest Park in St. Louis is the “Crown Jewel” of the city. But visual artist John Early and sports studies scholar Noah Cohan noticed that basketball was missing from the extensive amenities of the park. Forest Park has tennis courts. Forest Park has volleyball. It has baseball and softball. Its waters are used for kayaking. Forest Park even has cricket and archery. People are permitted to shoot arrows at Forest Park. But as Whereas Hoops notes, “Basketball would apparently just be too much, and too dangerous.”
Read MorePaint Days in Hell's Kitchen with Project Backboard
Project Backboard is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that renovates public basketball courts into large-scale works of art, while maintaining and even improving the structural use. The organization has renovated over 30 courts into inspiring, creative spaces of play since 2015. These “works of art” (the finished piece) have been designed by noteworthy modern artists like Sophia Dawson, David Huffman, and Faith Ringgold. The week I moved to New York City the organization posted a video of the artist Andrea Bergart shooting hoops at their next install location. In the near background of the video I saw my apartment tower. Kismet.
Read MoreLIFE SPAN: @SWISHHDREAMS
The LIFE SPAN series continues with hooper, clothing designer, and court designer Hannah Hunter, founder of Swishh Dreams. The non-profit project uses its funds from the clothing brand toward basketball court restoration. Hannah’s contribution to LIFE SPAN tells the story of the first court that launched the project.
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