Renovate LA Public Park Basketball Courts with Large Scale Works of Art

Green space, park access, and trees

South LA Long Beach South Bay Gateway Cities

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Project Backboard believes that our work (1) makes public park basketball courts more inviting and accessible for families and young woman, and (2) improves park safety by increasing users and fostering genuine connection between community members.
Despite the fact that many women love playing and watching basketball as much as many men do, it is harder for women to engage with with their love of basketball in parks. Park basketball courts can be a male dominated environment. We have found that working with artists on our court renovation and resurfacing projects can "reset" the basketball court environment and leads to more women and families in the space.
Basketball courts as "breeding grounds for citizenship" in that it is the first place many young people engage with strangers for a common goal. While the goal may be as simple as scoring more points than the other team, the ability to work successfully with a range of community members is essential for safe communities.

The requested grant will support the renovation of two LA County basketball courts, Julian C. Dixon Park, Los Angeles, CA and Ernest S McBride Park Sr & Teen Center, Long Beach, CA. Renovating and resurfacing the basketball courts in these parks with large scale works of art will lead to increased park usage; encouraging multi-generational play and making the parks safer and move inviting for families, young women and others. The artwork on these courts will make the parks a beacon for both the surrounding community and from adjacent communities.
Julian C. Dixon Park is a smaller park located almost directly in the center of the South Figueroa Corridor. The heavily residential neighborhood surrounding the park is full of single family houses. The court itself is situated between an outdoor exercise equipment and a children's playground. This allows, for example, for parents to use the exercise equipment, while teens play on the basketball court, and smaller children use the playground in a relatively contained environment.
Ernest S McBride Park Sr & Teen Center, Long Beach, CA is already a destination park for the community due to the adjacent community center and skate park. The basketball courts, however, are in desperate need of a resurfacing because they are currently raw concrete with inaccurate game lines. Fixing the court in this park will provide a space for community members to actually play basketball in a location where teens are already gathering.

If Project Backboard's work is successful, every community in Los Angeles will ultimate have a safe and inviting space to play basketball. We hope the completion of these two projects will inspire further investment in Los Angeles County public park spaces. Project Backboard believes that safe and inviting places to play basketball encourage multi-generational play, increase park usage, improve park safety and are seeding grounds for the engaged citizens of the future.