Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and adidas Basketball Present: CAMH COURT

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) and adidas Basketball present CAMH COURT, the first-ever playable basketball court in an art museum, commissioned and designed by renowned Houston-based artist Trenton Doyle Hancock. In addition to the custom court, Hancock has designed the backboards and basketballs, extending the cast of characters that populate his fantastical world into new dimensions.

In celebration of the March–April 2023 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Houston, CAMH COURT uniquely conforms to the signature dimensions of CAMH’s Brown Foundation Gallery through canting a regulation-size court into a parallelogram. Emerging from Hancock’s hyper-imagination, the court is an immersive and uniquely spirited environment where players might dunk from the three-point line or lose themselves in the embrace of Hancock’s striped Bringback characters, which swarm from baseline to baseline.

Hancock has a storied history with CAMH, from his landmark first solo exhibition, Trenton Doyle Hancock: The Life and Death of #1, in 2001; the group show, Splat Boom Pow! The Influence of Comics in Contemporary Art, in 2003; to his 2014 retrospective, Trenton Doyle Hancock: Skin and Bones, 20 Years of Drawing. Hancock’s shows have continually been some of the most celebrated in the institution’s almost 75-year history. His work creates new worlds for audiences to explore, and CAMH COURT offers an extension of this, again welcoming audiences into a space of fantasy and play.

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) and adidas Basketball present CAMH COURT, the first-ever playable basketball court in an art museum, commissioned and designed by renowned Houston-based artist Trenton Doyle Hancock, March 18-April 27, 2023. (Photo: Gem Hale, courtesy of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston)

CAMH COURT is on view March 18–April 27, 2023. The regulation-size court and youth court will be playable March 18–April 23, 2023. Please note: the court will not be available during the Museum’s private events and programmed hours. For more information on CAMH’s events and programs, check our updated hours of operation here and view our calendar here.

Visitor Guidelines

• Visitors of all ages are welcome to play, with a special youth court available to those ages 12 and under. The court is open play on a first-come, first-served basis unless otherwise programmed. Players under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian present.
• All players must wear rubber-soled shoes to walk and play on the court. Those without the right shoewear will be given slipover shoe covers to wear.
• All players must complete a release of liability form. Players who are under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian complete the form.
• Basketballs can be checked out from the front desk after providing a photo ID. Outside basketballs are not allowed.