DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN CELEBRATES WOMEN IN SPORT

Building on a four-year-long partnership with the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), Glossier teamed up with Reindorf, non-profit organisation Project Blackboard and the New York City Parks Department to redesign the basketball courts in Tompkins Square Park.

Reindorf, who has worked with Glossier prior, aimed to "add colour and excitement" to the neighbourhood. To do so, the artist chose standout primary and selected complementary colours that would "enhance vibrancy and energy".

"I hope residents, visitors and basketball players alike can enjoy the refurbishment both as a functional court and as a piece of public artwork," explains Reindorf.

The basketball courts feature depictions of a stylised eye, a recurring symbol in Reindorf's work. "The eye places emphasis on the act of looking back, reclaiming one's agency and expressing confidence," said Reindorf. "I found it important to incorporate the same eye into the court design to reference these ideas of empowering and inspiring women both in sports and beyond."

Project Backboard cleaned the subsurface of the existing basketball courts to make way for Reindorf's public art. Cracks in the courts were filled and any dips were levelled, followed by two applications of acrylic resurfacing. After resurfacing, the artwork was drawn and two to three coats of Acrytech acrylic colour coating, the same materials used for outdoor tennis courts, was applied. The backboard and rims of the courts were also replaced.

"Project Backboard's mission is to renovate public basketball courts and install large-scale works of site-specific art on the surface in order to strengthen communities, improve park safety, encourage multi-generational play and inspire people to think more critically and creatively about their environment," said Glossier director Dan Peterson.

"In this case, we hope Na's artwork will encourage more people, but especially families and young women, to feel invited to play basketball in Tompkins Square Park."

CLIENT Glossier
ARTIST Na Chainkua Reindorf
LOCATION Tompkins Square Park, Downtown Manhattan
PHOTOGRAPHY Austin Bell