Tennis courts are usually painted just one main color. But a team of artists recently gave courts in five U.S. cities a colorful makeover. The project, called Art Courts, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Open, a tennis tournament.
Painting the courts was challenging, says artist Manoela Madera. The paint used on tennis courts contains sand. The sand creates friction, or resistance to movement, when the tennis ball hits the court. Without friction, the ball would bounce too fast and too high. But the sand makes the paint difficult to spread.
It took Madera and artist Gray Edgerton five days to finish just two courts in Miami. “A lot of energy and passion went into it,” Madera says.