Client: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

Overview

The first playable basketball court in an art museum was presented by Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) and adidas Basketball in 2023. This immersive artwork was commissioned and designed by renowned Houston-based artist Trenton Doyle Hancock. In addition to the custom court, Hancock created the backboards and basketballs, extending the cast of characters that populate his fantastical world into new dimensions.

In celebration of the March–April 2023 NCAA Men’s Final Four® in Houston, CAMH COURT uniquely conformed to the signature dimensions of CAMH’s Brown Foundation Gallery by canting a regulation-size court into a parallelogram. Emerging from Hancock’s hyper-imagination, the court is an immersive and uniquely spirited environment where players might dunk from the three-point line or lose themselves in the embrace of Hancock’s striped Bringback characters, which swarm from baseline to baseline.

CAMH Court’s amplified the excitement and energy surrounding basketball in the city. Through a series of basketball-focused events and the inclusion of a large-scale art commission by one of Houston’s foremost contemporary artists, CAMH Court provided unexpected and unforgettable experiences that bridged contemporary art, basketball, and culture.

Goals

The Museum’s installation of a playable basketball court aligns with CAMH’s mission to trust artists and empower audiences. CAMH COURT threw open the doors to meet audiences where they are, both invigorating and exciting new audiences. Regardless of age or familiarity with the museum, CAMH COURT ignited visitors' imaginations and got their blood flowing.

Referring to his goals for the work, artist Trenton Doyle Hancock said, “I wanted to create a place where people could lose themselves in my artwork. I create worlds inhabited by characters, like the Bringbacks, who swarm across the CAMH Court. I love the idea that people will try to play basketball despite the best efforts of the Bringbacks. CAMH is a unique architectural environment — a famous parallelogram that has vexed artists for generations. This space creates a distorted and torqued basketball court that’s highly dynamic and generates a new kind of game.

I’m interested in new types of basketball play emerging here. My paintings are like large toys, and my studio is a playground. I’m trying to create new worlds where things might be skewed, but your imagination is on fire. Basketball and my art come together to make space for pure play.”

Process

The collaboration between the multiple stakeholders was essential to bringing together our respective expertise and resources to transform the Museum into a unique and engaging basketball court, blending art and sport in unprecedented ways.

CAMH's staff had initially conceived the idea of transforming the museum into a basketball court 30 years ago. Despite the challenges posed by the rigidity of museums, the team kept the idea alive as a kind of staff legend. The project came to fruition through the collaboration of key partners: artist Trenton Doyle Hancock, flagship sponsor adidas Basketball, and court designer and fabricator Creative Court Concepts.

adidas Basketball played a significant role in the project, supporting CAMH's vision to create the first playable basketball court within an art museum. Their involvement, alongside Houston Rockets, created new programming opportunities and increased the visibility of the project through international media, which promoted basketball as an art form, and the relevance of art to sports.

The court was meticulously designed and installed by Creative Court Concepts to have the same playing coefficient as the Final Four® court, adding an additional layer of authenticity, safety, and excitement.