Nike’s most recent New York Made campaign goes to the court after a partnership with the New York City Parks and Recreation Department and Brooklyn-based artist Brian Donnelly (professionally known as Kaws) promoted the swoosh to erect a special basketball court at Sara D. Roosevelt Park in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
The campaign celebrates Nike’s roots in the city and kicks off with the opening of the Stanton Street Courts — two side-by-side full basketball courts (approximately 116 by 80 feet), with four hoops.
The court will embody Nike’s goal to elevate sports, culture and community through innovative collaborations.
“I always think about when I was young and the things I had interaction with, whether it was skateboard graphics or magazines, and how art reached me. I’ve been conscious of how my work disseminates and reaches people. It could be a canvas in a museum … or it could be a court, a wall or a t-shirt,” says Kaws. “I like the idea of public art because it reaches people in a casual way, and when they aren’t necessarily looking for it.”
Kaws first moved to Manhattan in 1996, and lived on the corner of Clinton and Stanton Street. His familiarity with the park and its neighborhood is thus extremely personal. “The courts that we painted, I used to pass everyday,” he said.
Photo courtesy Nike
