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[basic af]

#tbt

[studio szn]

It was a true honor to speak with the students of NYU in professor David Hollander’s @howbasketballcansavetheworld class this week. Hollander has broken the mold with an innovative model that teaches, asks, and enlightens us as to “how basketball can save the world” in meaningful and actionable ways. Endless gratitude for this platform to share the Earth Court project and greater work of the studio. We are excited to have your class up for a visit this Summer, and to explore more ways to build impact through this game we hold so dear.

We are honored to be acknowleged by the New York Architectural Design committee with an award for “Cultural Architecture - Interactive + Experiential Spaces”. Sanctum: Earth Court Case Study 001_a is the first of its type - a unique case study basketball court fully integrated into nature, designed as an experiential site for human interaction, play, and collective well being. Thank you to everyone who visited the space in its infant stages, shared feedback, and made it a truly human experience. More on that soon... Swipe to see some of our favorite projects in this category. Image 1: Sanctum- Earth Court 001_a Kindred Studio - Upstate NY Image 2: Tension Instrument Studio Lihan - Prague, Czech Rep. Image 3: Wuhan Pier Cultural Center Q.D. Spatial Practial - UK Image 4: Sci-Fi Gallery Zo Zhou - New York Image 5: Heshan Verge Ambi Info. Tech - China / Guandong Province Image 6: Undying Earth Memorial Zhenyu Zeng - China / Sichuan #kindredstudio

It was a privilege to connect artist and Brooklyn native, David White @mrStarCity , together with the NYC Department of Education Arts Office and Project Backboard to create “The Royal Court”, inspired by the amazing students at Lenox Academy. Big shoutout to Arts Office visionary and Exec. Director Paul Thompson for taking the leap of faith and trusting us through the process. The work the AO is doing is vital for cultivating arts awareness and accessibility to students in New York City, and they are doing so at the highest level. To their incredible team in Mark Corallo, Nakia Hicks, + the incredible Liz Regan, and anyone we might have missed, thank you for all of your hard work and effort. The AO has some incredible things in the pipeline, including programs and residencies in dance, music, theatre, fine art, public art, you name it. Every school district in America needs to look closely at this model. Thank you to Principal Berry and the students at Lenox Academy for inspiring us, and expressing a true interest in art, and what art can do. You gave us HOPE. Thank you to best in the business @project_backboard + the individuals who brought this beautiful work of art to life - @jzzam_peterson , @coachhawkinsumes , @ralph_sunga21 , @spiritofhoops , and to @jds.sports for your generous + much appreciated support. Last but not least, big up @mrstarcity who was the right person for the job without question. I hope we can find ways to keep you working with the kids. BIG BLESS. ABOUT THE AO: The mission of the Arts Office is to support the arts aspirations of all NYCPS students and to ensure that we are continuously expanding reach in support of all schools, especially those that have not historically received direct support from our office. We do this by Supporting principals to incorporate the arts into schools’ core instructional mission and school wide SEL practices, and (b) Build teachers’ knowledge and capacity around effective pedagogical practices based on the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Photos by @coachhawkinsumes + @jzzam_peterson CC: @crooklyndodger @nycps.arts

“King Of Hearts” Last week I pulled up to the basketball court unveiling at Lennox Academy in Canarsie, and the energy was crazy. Kids were smiling, dancing, hooping, taking photos… just pure joy everywhere. Seeing their reactions and watching them talk about the artwork was amazing. S/o to Principal Patrick Berry, Paul Thompson, Mark Corallo, Superintendent Celeste Douglas, and the entire Lennox Academy staff for putting on a great show. Huge shout out to @MrstarCity seeing the way you interacted with all the staff and students was really inspiring. It’s nothing like seeing someone that looks like you and come from where you come do dope things. Thank you ProjectBackboard @jds.sports @madbasic and all the other sponsors for making this project happen and for allowing me the opportunity to document this day 🙌🏾. BIG BLESSED 😎 #NewSchoolArt #MrStarCity #Projectbackboard #NewYork #Art #KingOfHearts

“THE ROYAL COURT” IT WAS ALL A DREAM!⁣ ⁣ Those words from the late, great King of Brooklyn, Notorious B.I.G, still echo through the borough and through me.⁣ ⁣ All my life as an artist, I’ve carried one prayer in my heart: to give back to the place that raised me. This summer, that prayer found its form. I had the honor of designing and painting “The Royal Court: LoverBoy — King of Hearts, 2025” alongside the incredible team at @project_backboard for the Lennox Academy in Canarsie, Brooklyn.⁣ LoverBoy was created as a symbol, the giver of love to all who play on this court. That’s why I crowned him the King of Hearts. I also included the school’s sly fox mascot, not as a rival, but as a reminder: you don’t have to steal love or recognition when you’re surrounded by it. The King of Hearts will give it freely.⁣ ⁣ Once the court was completed, we held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Lennox Academy where I had the chance to meet and speak with the students. Their joy was contagious, they were genuinely grateful and proud of what we created together. Seeing how much the new court meant to them reminded me why this kind of work matters: it’s about beauty, yes, but even more about belonging, pride, and possibility. ⁣ ⁣ Watching their excitement and pride made me deeply grateful to be from Brooklyn, to see this next generation so alive, so driven, and so committed to greatness both in the classroom and on the court.⁣ ⁣ Deep gratitude to the Principal of the Lennox Academy Patrick Berry, Paul Thompson, Mark Corallo, Superintendent Celeste Douglas, and the entire @project_backboard family — @milesryn , @ralph_sunga21 , @jzzam_peterson , @coachhawkinsumes , @spirit_of_hoops and @madbasic thank you for your vision, love, and support. ⁣ ⁣ Never doubt that your dreams can become real. Every day, I remind myself that the life I’m living now is the very one I once prayed for. Even through the challenges, the uncertainty, and the waiting, I realize I asked for this journey. Let’s keep chasing our dreams! Big Bless! ❤️ - King Of Ethiopia. Brooklyn, New York 2025. #Art #NewArtist ##ContemporaryArt #CreateArt #Legend #MrStarCity #Inspiration #KingOfHearts #LennoxAcademy ⁣

A summer of joy and basketball. Really thought our squad might take the trophy at Ball For Art. I’d run it back with this team. Shouts to my teammates @thelifeoftelvin , @jeremyjohnkaplan , @emiguimond & @erinmau — instant chemistry. Enjoyed hooping with y’all. Truly honored to count some serious legends among my friends. 📷: @2th.prod & @kev.couliau

@okcontemporary presents the first major retrospective of Oklahoma City-based artist Edgar Heap of Birds (b. 1954, Wichita, Kansas; Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation), who is known internationally for conceptual artwork that addresses Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and relationships to place. Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds: HONOR SONG is a landmark for American art, for the region, and for the city: the artist’s first institutional survey in his home-state of the last forty years. The exhibition spans over four decades of art production, tracing Heap of Birds’s trajectory from the 1970s to the present through colorful prints, abstract paintings, drawings, glassworks, sculptures, and public works. “I went out first to make a painting and then the Earth taught me how to make those shapes and the Neuf series... so the sovereignty of those [Neuf] paintings is very pronounced, they were made on Cheyenne-Arapaho territory, I made them myself, and I explored them myself, and then the politicized ideas came out of that.” - Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds #medicine #nativeamerican #indigenous #basketball #culture #art #passion #native #hoops #oklahoma #everycourthasastory

Friends— we are excited to announce that the Common Practice newsletter will be launching this month. This outreach will offer a wider look at basketball through the lens of contemporary art, and will feature meaningful stories, interviews with artists, curators, and industry professionals, and news and events within the global art x basketball community. For those pushing their practice and doing the good work, our hope is to not only be a resource, but to provide avenues of support in whatever ways possible. To everyone who has followed along since the release of Common Practice: Basketball & Contemporary Art, along with subsequent publications, exhibitions, community projects, court renovations and public programs, we are deeply grateful. We are looking forward to activating this new chapter, and have lots more to share. Stay tuned for more soon, and thank you for your support 🖤 Photo Credit: Uriba, Sept. 1966 Via: @lowpostmodern #commonpractice

(Scanned Ad Catalog) Ad Catalog: #Versace Menswear FW 1998 Models: #IvandePineda #JohnDennis #KirstenOwen #CarolynMurphy #ScottBarnhill #PeterJohnson … Photographer: #BruceWeber Hair: #DidierMalige Make-Up: #KayMontano Set Design: #DimitriLevas Stylist: #JoeMcKenna Scanned from Versace Menswear Fall/Winter 1998 Ad Catalog