This is Deb here to answer the burning question, “What does a visit to your local museum, in my case the Crocker Art Museum, have to do with basketball?” I’ll drive or even fly for hours to see a museum exhibition, but it’s hard for me to take three hours out of my day and visit my local art museum. Even though I’m a member of the Crocker Art Museum, and it is only 45 minutes away, I don’t visit it often. The other day (I wrote this post before the coronavirus quarantines and basketball season cancellations hit), I hitched a ride downtown and spent a couple of wonderful hours there. At the end of this post we have added a few of our favorite museums to visit virtually and a couple of book recommendations for those of you looking for something to do (at home).
Gustavo Ramos Rivera
If you forget to go to the restroom on the first floor before heading up to second, you have to wind your way through the post-1945 art rooms. I have visited this section many times, but on my way back from the restroom, I noticed something new (to me). A painting by Gustavo Ramos Rivera called Bulerías.
“Interesting,” I thought. “Looks like a stylized painting of a basketball court.” Really? Ok, I admit I’ve been watching too much basketball these past few weeks. Hand stitching and watching basketball go together for me. I’m very productive during basketball season. And as I read the exhibit label, I felt vindicated. “Bulerías” comes from the Spanish word for “outmaneuver,” which is a fairly common basketball term. You see how my mind works!
Project Blackboard
One thing about basketball is that I watch it live, not like those cheaters who record the games. (You know who you are, Kris Sazaki!) I see commercials. Most are awful, but I did see one about Project Backboard. This is a project where a group of artists turns run-down basketball courts into giant works of art. You’ve got to click on the video below; these artists are amazing!
NBA Basketball Courts
The Project Blackboard commercial got me thinking about all the “interesting” courts I’ve seen this year. Before I get started, I’ll show you what a traditional NBA basketball court looks like. Usually it’s slats of wood, team logo in the center, naming-rights company name on some edge, and team name under the basket like this one for the Miami Heat.
For the longest time the only unique court was the Boston Celtics’ parquet floor.
The first artsy court I noticed this year was the Brooklyn Nets’ new gray court. How cool is that?
All this court color got me to wondering how arenas that are home to more than one team (think Staples Center in Los Angeles, home to NBA’s Lakers and Clippers and NHL’s Kings) change their floors. Yes, each team has its own floor. And sometimes they play on the same day. If you haven’t seen a time-lapse changeover from one court to another, check out this video where the Clippers’ basketball court is transformed into the Kings’ hockey rink.
College Hoops
It seems like these days everyone is installing a special floor. Even college basketball has gotten into the act. Look at the University of Oregon’s court with its ring of Douglas fir trees. I’m wondering if these patterned floors give the home team an advantage. Does a player note that their most productive shot is from the top of the fourth tree on the left?
Basketball with the Pixeladies
We were looking forward to the Studio Art Quilt Associates annual conference in Toronto, Canada, which will now be held virtually. We even had tickets to cheer on the Toronto Raptors against the Denver Nuggets. As you undoubtedly know, the NBA has cancelled the rest of the season, so this might be the time to ask the big question: What kind of court would you design? I think the NBA needs to have a quilt-inspired court. What say you? And while you’re hunkered down, consider taking one of our online classes. PSE 1 starts April 6. Click here to read more. You may have to stay home, but you don’t have to be alone!
Pixeladies’ Virtual Museum Tour Recommendations
The Brücke Museum in Berlin is a small but engaging museum. Both Kris and Deb love Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, who has sixteen works here. Kirchner’s Artistin (Woman Artist) (1910) is one of his most intimate paintings. Click here to go to the museum’s collection.
The Art Institute of Chicago might be Deb’s favorite museum because it houses a diverse and inspiring collection. It includes one of Kris’ favorite artists, Alma Thomas. Her piece to the left is called Starry Night and the Astronauts (1972). Click here to view its collection.
Deb took this photo (left) at one of her favorite outdoor museums, the Magic Gardens in Philadelphia. Click here to take a virtual tour of the gardens that are filled with mosaics. Try it, it’s really cool!
Kris’ Book Recommendations
Geraldine Brooks’ Year of Wonders is a fascinating fictional take on the London plague of 1665-1666, how it spread to the little town of Eyam, and the measures the villagers took to stem the disease. Click here to read more about the historical town of Eyam, but read the book, too. I guarantee you won’t regret it.
One of Thomas Mann’s most famous novella’s, Death in Venice follows the music conductor Gustav von Aschenbach as he travels to the famed city and becomes obsessed with a fourteen-year-old boy, all under the veiled threat of a recent cholera outbreak. Click here to read more about the seven major cholera outbreaks and pandemics. Read the book if you want to get swept away by this man’s “urge to travel” and what happens when he does. Dirk Bogarde is wonderful in the film version, which includes all the great music by Gustav Mahler.