Basketball’s Creative Courts

How artist, Susumu Ebihara and Laykold are revitalising Japan’s places to play

Street basketball has always been a form of creative expression and community building but former player and artist Susumu Ebihara, with some help from Laykold, is taking that creativity to new levels.

Often played on run-down outdoor courts, basketball has become a staple of urban culture around the world. However, many of these courts have fallen into disrepair over the years, and the lack of safe and inviting spaces for young people to play and express themselves has become a pressing issue.

Creating vibrant, safe and inspiring spaces to play

Susumu Ebihara’s mission is to renovate and beautify these neglected public courts with museum-level art. Through his non-profit movement, GoParky, his vision is to create safe and inspiring spaces for children and communities across Japan. As he puts it;

“I worked on the 3x3 basketball at the Tokyo Olympics which lit a spark for me. I saw the power the sport had to inspire young people and build communities. Using my passion for art and love of basketball, I saw an opportunity to create vibrant spaces for play that would create a better future for kids and communities.”

“Using Susumu’s artistic talents and Laykold product and expertise, art courts are coming to life across Japan and breathing new life into old sport spaces.”

Laykold lends colour and expertise to help transform sport and spaces

This vision struck a chord with Laykold’s Scott Windus. Transforming sport and spaces is at the heart of Sport Group’s business and Scott and Susumu realised the potential of joining forces. Using Susumu’s artistic talents and Laykold product and expertise, art courts are coming to life across Japan and breathing new life into old sport spaces.

Scott explains how the innovative partnership works;

“It takes about four months to work through one of these art projects. I help Susumu make sure the sub-base is corrected and he does the prep work himself now, as we have shown him how to approach it. We conduct primer and paint test runs together at each site and make sure the surface is going to take the paints prior to starting the project.”

“There’s a good amount of work in getting the first design idea together, deciding how to lay it up using the different colors and in what order. The design chalk-up and mapping out (without a stencil in sight) is done by him. He’s a genius!”

Susumu and GoParkey won the Project of the Year Award as part of the Sport Group Asia Pacific Project Partner Awards which were held at the Asia Pacific Agent Conference in Hawaii in May this year.

His work speaks for itself. See his amazing gallery of creative courts below.