MANIFESTO 2020

Supported By

Project In The Paint CIC is a legally registered Community Interest Company, Company No. 12316526.
 Project In-The-Paint is a Community Art and Sport
What is Project helping to promote the need for greater
investment in grass roots basketball in the UK.
In the
In The Paint aims to re-imagine unloved, under-used
Paint?* and poorly maintained public basketball courts
across the UK, by renovating and installing
large-scale works of art, in order to strengthen
communities and inspire play, culture and creativity
in public spaces.

Whether it’s choosing the UK’s leading street artists

to submit designs, designing our own
artcourt or sourcing within the community for
*‘In-The-Paint’ is basketball slang
designs - we always ‘go hard in the paint’*.
term referring to occupying an
area on the court underneath the
basket. It’s often coloured; which
explains the origins of the word.
‘The Paint’ is the most valuable
position on the floor because
of its proximity to the basket.
An attacking player receiving
the ball there has a far greater
chance of successfully scoring
than anywhere else.
 These are halcyon days for British basketball.
According to The Department of Culture, Media and
Sport, basketball is now the second most popular
Why team sport (after football) in the UK for 11-15 year
Basketball? olds, with 32% of children participating.
336,000 people aged 14-25 or above play
basketball in Britain at least once a month -
AS MANY as play cricket and golf combined.
However it receives nowhere near the same
level of funding support.

Establishing itself as one of the country’s

most inclusive games, basketball is ideally
suited to areas deprived of space and money -
a hoop and a ball are all you need.

Basketball has proved extraordinarily good at

engaging the most underprivileged communities
 18% of basketball clubs are located in the most
deprived areas of the country, DOUBLE the figure
for cricket, rugby, netball or hockey clubs, according
Why to a 2013 study.
Basketball?
Over HALF of adult participants are from ethnic
minorities, more than any other major sport in
Britain. A Sport England Active People study
highlighted that 52% of the 155,000 people over 16
that played basketball every week were of black or
minority ethnic (BME) origin - THE HIGHEST OF
ANY team sport in the UK... Basketball has greater
success in disadvantaged areas because it has
huge street credibility and can be played with very
little equipment.

Between 11-15, 40% per cent of basketball players

are female, almost DOUBLE the number for football.
Pound for pound, perhaps no sport
does more social good in Britain today.
 How can both Art and Sport affect
the community positively?
Public Art is perfect, it reaches people casually -
Why when they’re not expecting it. By transforming
public basketball courts into bold, beautiful and
Art? unique works of art, we embrace the idea of
basketball courts as places of celebration,
creativity, diversity and togetherness, essential
elements in building a sentiment of belonging to our
environment.
Art is important for its own sake—as a source of
beauty and expression, as well as simply for the
process of creating. Art is naturally linked to
creativity, an attribute that is considered one of the
most important factors for the success of
individuals, organisations, and cultures.
Evidence suggests that engaging in the visual arts
can reduce depression and anxiety whilst increasing
self-respect, self-worth, self-esteem
 and encouraging social re-engagement with the
wider everyday world.

Why By aethstetically transforming basketball courts into

public works of art, we increase park usage,
Art? improve safety and inspire social interaction among
friends, family, neighbours and strangers; bringing
communities together through the positivity of art -
whilst encouraging individual growth and promoting
health and skills development - demonstrating that
basketball courts can be effective both visually and
functionally. These courts have proven to attract
those looking for engaging backdrops for their
Instagram stories, fashion shoots and branded
videos, futhur creating potential funding
opportunities Besides...

“Earth without
art is just ‘eh’. ”
- anon
 Studies found that after painting playgrounds with
multicoloured markings, children’s Moderate to
Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA)
Why and Vigorous Physical Activity (VPA) significantly
increased. If these levels of physical activity can be
Art? sustained, then multicoloured playgrounds would
make a valuable contribution to the achievement of
health-related physical activity recommendations
for young people. Allowing children to gain short
and long-term health benefits, and to maintain
physically active lifestyles into adulthood.
Appropriately designed re-painted colourful
playgrounds re-ignite enthusiasm for physical
activity and may serve to increase VPA and promote
cardiorespiratory fitness. - Gareth Stratton Ph.D. & Elaine
Mullan.

“The effect of multicolour playground markings on children’s

physical activity level during recess”

A REACH Group, Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences,

Liverpool John Moores University, Health Promotion Division. 31 August 2005.
 The Community?
Often it’s beneficial for the local community to
participate and share their own design ideas and
What help in creating a basketball court of their own. I
would connect with local basketball teams, run an
about... art based competition within the community to
decide the final Design.
All submitted designs would be reviewed and short
listed by In-The-Paint and ideally funders and local
town/county councillors. The winning design idea
would be refined and made ready for painting, with
the winning participant(s) being offered the
opportunity to take part in the hands-on renovation
and painting of their design on to the court. followed
by a Paint Party - where the Mayor, local press and
the local basketball community would all be invited
for the unveiling of the newly refreshed court.
 The Environment?
Each year an estimated 80 million of the 414 million
litres of paint sold in the UK (retail and trade) goes
What to waste [enough to fill 50 Olympic-sized swimming
pools].This paint is thrown into landfill or just stored,
about... despite over 50% of it still being usable.

Our aim is to put all of our paint to good use for

each of our projects, using as much paint as
possible we’ll minimise the amount of paint entering
the waste stream through careful product use and
specification. To use paints which are effective but
contain no toxic substances.
 Basketball courts do not need to be spectacular in
design to accomplish their purpose. In fact, they
require only to be ninety-four feet by fifty feet, while
What might containing a regulation hoop and back-board at
it look like? either end. However, that hasn't stopped people the
world over from designing some beautiful basketball
courts.

Whether they are built afloat, like the one near Siem
Reap, Cambodia, a converted 19th-century Church
on Chicago’s West Side or squeezed in-between tall
buildings and painted in bold, vibrant gradients of
colours, as they are in Paris's 9th Arrondissement.

Here are some examples of how others have

re-imagined unloved, under-used and poorly
maintained public basketball courts by renovating
and installing large-scale works of art...
What might
it look like?

Multidisciplinary designer
Gareth Roberts has transformed
a run-down public basketball
court in Chelmsford, Essex, into
an eye-popping work of art. The
bold palette has been selected
to celebrate the joy of colour in
the hope of energising
professional players and
amateurs alike. The first of its
kind in Essex.
What might
it look like?

The Pigalle Duperré is

sandwiched into a row of
buildings in the 9th
arrondissement of Paris.
With support from sports brand
Nike, creative directors Ill-Studio
and fashion label Pigalle have
redesigned the compact and
irregularly shaped site.
What might
it look like?

As part of the redevelopment of

the Carlo Carrà park, Italian
artist Gue has transformed a
347-square-meter basketball
court into a colourful piece of art
titled ‘Playground’. “The idea was
born from the possibility of being
able to cross the field’s space,”
says Gue, “and to stay inside the
composition and change the
perception of shapes.
What might
it look like?

(Clockwise) William-lachance -
Kinloch Park, Adrienne Gaither -
Lincoln Recreation Centre and
Charlie Edmiston - KIPP
Academy of Opportunity.
For Project Backboard. All US.
 Pre-renovation Process
• Identify Location.
• Secure Permission.
How? • Commission Artists/Designers.†
• Cost the Project.
• Fund Raise.‡

Renovation Process
• Prepare Base [clean and clear.
• Layer 1: Surface Peparation Coating.
• Draw Design Onto Surface.
• Layer 2: Coloured Paint application.
• Add Lines.
• Additional Improvements?
(Nets, Backboards, Benches, Fencing, Bins etc.).

• Post-renovation Process
• Promote it.
• Celebrate it.
• Hoop!
† Depending on commission costs, ‡ Where grants/funding isn’t avaliable
 I’m Gareth Roberts, an advocate of the power of
simplicity and the positive effects of colour on
the human soul. I appreciate the big Ideas, and
Who am I? the little details. I graduated in Design from
the Norwich School of Art & Design (now NUA) in
I’m a native of the Midlands but I’ve lived and
995

worked in both London and Essex since 2004.

ue MVP - 1

I have worked professionally in some of the

Youth Leag

UK’s biggest most respected design agencies

with globally recognised brands such as
Coca-Cola, Cadbury’s/Kraft, Beisdorf, Bacardi
and Tesco up to and including Design Director
level, This combined with a continued life-long love
affair with basketball (which I played to a high
standard at youth level), alongside the simple desire
to put a smile on people’s faces, In-the-Paint is
where my love for both the beautiful game of
e l
t
des 7 basketball and design converge, and is brought to
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realisation.
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 I intend for my community projects to become
self-sustaining, and to maintain their own legacy.
Already supported by Basketball England and
What’s Street Games [London]. I’d like to partner with more
Next? private organisations for sponsorship to ensure that
we can become more self-sustaining in the future.

Organisations such as Wilson, Nike, Jordan Brand,

Adidas, Reebok, Under Armour, Puma, Champion,
Molten or Spalding or Baden would make ideal
partners.

I will continue discussions with local councils and

relevant organisations such as The Black Prince
Trust, London Basketball Association, London
Sport, Ball-Out, The National Lottery Fund and Arts
Council England to secure repeat funding and/or
continued support.
 I’d intend to continue commissioning and attracting
big name artists to collaborate with them on the
project designing and/or painting courts across the
What’s country. Artists such as Camille Walala, Katrina
Next? Russell-Adams, Fandango Kid (Annie Nicholson),
Darren John, Rosie ‘Coco’ Lom, Season of Victory,
Molly Hawkins, Cherie Grist-Renshaw are
supporters of the project and the perfect fit for the
type of art I’d like to see on UK basketball courts.
They’re art is vibrant, contemporary and attractive.

If you’d like to get involved in helping to create

beautiful places for basketball in the community
Please get in touch with me at:
crazyfordesign@gmail.com or on 07729036561.
Project_In_The_Paint I’d be happy to have a nice chat over a cuppa or
ProInThePaint shoot some hoops at a court near you.
#ProjectInThe Paint

Thank You.