by The Cowl Editor on October 18, 2018
News
by Malena Aylwin ’22
News Staff
On Oct. 14, Providence College Galleries (PC-G) and the My HomeCourt activity unveiled Providence craftsman Jim Drain’s remarkable floor wall painting on the basketball courts of Fargnoli Park in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Providence.
PC-G, with the help of the Departments of Art and Art History at PC, presents displays and open projects concentrating on contemporary art, creative aesthetic practice, and interdisciplinary social movement.
“Working inside two exhibition spaces, PC-G supports the educational, service and community-oriented mission of the College with dynamic visual arts productions,” states the PC-G website
Set up by Friends of Friar Basketball, an organization that brings together former and current members of the PC basketball team in order to better the community, my HomeCourt is an activity that restores public basketball courts. The project was also aided by PC-G and the City of Providence Parks.
By reviving run-down courts and transforming them into brilliant, show-stoppers, collaborating organizations can make dynamic social events that become a source of pride for neighborhoods.
Working with lead funder, Friends of Friar Basketball, and City of Providence Parks and Project Backboard, PC-G Director and Curator Jamilee Lacy and other My HomeCourt teammates intend to transform nearby open ball courts into centerpieces through the span of the next couple of years. For this first court at Fargnoli Park, Lacy appointed Providence local and acclaimed craftsman Drain to make an outline for a basketball court.
Drain is a mixed media craftsman situated in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated with a BFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1998.
Drain was an individual from Forcefield, a group that investigated the converging of music, execution film, and performance fill into one stage. He has had various solo and gathering displays, including at Various Small Fires in Los Angeles, California; University of Florida, Gainesville; Beetle Projects in Miami, Florida; amongst many others.
Drain was one of two recipients of the 2005 Baloise Prize and was recently recognized with craftsman Bhakti Baxter for making some of the best public art in the country.
Drain and craftsman Naomi Fisher received various awards for their craftsman-run space, The Bas Fisher Invitational, most outstandingly two from the Knight Foundation. Drain’s success just keeps growing.
Lacy, alongside the craftsman and understudies, invested a very long time in correspondence with Elmhurst occupants and players who most often utilize the courts at Fargnoli Park.
The final design mixes Drain’s unique mark of multicolored shading and shapes with thick geometric examples, propelled by athletic clothing design and beautiful styles found all through the world.
The court painting is then administered by the broadly acclaimed Project Backboard, a non-profit organization situated in Los Angeles.
Many volunteers from the city of Providence, PC’s undergraduate and graduate programs, and Friends of Friars Basketball all met at the court to help paint. The continued care and upkeep of the courts is bolstered by volunteer individuals from Friends of Fargnoli Park.
The official court unveiling was held on Sunday, October 14 at Fargnoli Park, 945 Smith St, Providence, Rhode Island. For more information about PC–G shows and occasions, visit http://pcgalleries.providence.edu.