Project Backboard: Art, Work & Basketball
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Project Backboard combines basketball court restoration with commissioned artwork to create safer, more inviting public spaces while building community engagement and creative practice. Founder Dan Peterson shares how integrating museum-quality art with sports infrastructure has inspired hundreds of similar projects worldwide and expanded access to basketball culture.
Key takeaways
- Project Backboard repairs and resurfaces outdoor basketball courts while collaborating with local artists to install unique artworks, creating safer and more inviting community spaces.
- The organization has documented that adding art to courts increases usage, attracts families and young women players, and inspires subsequent public and private investment in parks.
- Creativity is a learnable practice rather than an innate talent; daily engagement with creative work builds creative capacity and enables people to imagine and build better futures.
- Cost-effective court renovation ranges from $40,000–$50,000 depending on court size and subsurface repair needs, with scalable artwork styles from geometric to figurative designs.
- Project Backboard is expanding beyond court installations to include publications like "Common Practice: Basketball and Contemporary Art" to reach libraries and schools, and exploring NBA and college gymnasium partnerships.
About Dan PetersonDan Peterson is a former basketball coach and math teacher who worked in the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies community relations department before founding Project Backboard in 2015. He is also co-editor of "Common Practice: Basketball and Contemporary Art," an anthology documenting 100+ years of basketball and art.
AI-generated from the meeting recording — AI can make mistakes, so check the recording for anything important.
Meeting for the week of December 20, 2021 - December 26, 2021
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Project Backboard: Art, Work & Basketball
Speaker: Dan Peterson
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Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
Here’s a message from our Club President.
Hi Members and Guests,
Welcome to this week’s meeting of the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley.
December is Disease Prevention and Treatment Month on the Rotary calendar, recognizing this important cause. Rotarians around the world work hard to combat many diseases - including polio and malaria - through education and awareness, vaccinations and preventative measures, and clinics and treatment centers. These efforts include innovative projects that utilize technology to help expand access to healthcare and treatment, such as the telemedicine project our club has been involved with. To find out more about the many different projects that Rotarians around the world are involved with, you can visit the Rotary Showcase website:
https://map.rotary.org/en/project/pages/project_showcase.aspx
December is also a month where many people have the opportunity to spend time and celebrate with friends and family and to indulge. However, it is also a time that many people in our communities - locally and around the world - continue to face hardships and struggles. If you have the opportunity, please consider getting involved and providing support, whether it be volunteering your time or donating a gift, and embrace the chance to Serve to Change Lives.
Brett Sham
President, Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
president@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Guests, we are happy to have you join us this week!
As we see it, our flexibility as an online, asynchronous club allows a special type of service to Rotarians around the world: we make it easier for anyone to strive for and maintain 100% attendance. That keeps you engaged with Rotary's events and ideas, and provides a moment of inspiration for devoting your creativity, talents, and resources to good causes.
You are certainly not required to pay anything in order to attend our meetings. However, if you would like to make a small contribution to our service efforts, you are welcome to do so in our secure Happy Dollars section down the page. This could be what you normally pay at your own club's meetings for lunch, for example. Any amount is welcome, but first and foremost, we're happy you've joined us, and hope you will share with others who we are and what we do to help inspire Service Above Self.
And don't forget to fill out our attendance form so you get an email you can pass on to your club's secretary!
The Four-Way Test
The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.
Of the things we think, say or do
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Is it the TRUTH?
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Is it FAIR to all concerned?
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Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
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Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Weekly Funny with Shags
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin !
Java Joke!
Why do Dasher and Dancer enjoy coffee so much?
Because they're Santa's "star bucks"!
Weekly inspiration
Every week we start our meetings with a short video highlighting innovation, inspiration, entrepreneurship, or social change.
While not everyone celebrates Christmas, the poignant story from World War I at the center of this Sainsbury's ad from 2014 is likely something we can all celebrate.
World of Rotary
Every week we will focus on a particular story that tells of our organization and the work of Rotarians in the world.
Rotary Champions of Change: Chris Hayter
https://www.rotarygbi.org/magazine/august-september-2021/champions-of-change-winner-chris-hayter/
Through a Rotarian's Lens
Sometimes a photo can capture an amazing moment. In this section Member Keith Marsh shares his incredible photography!
If you'd like to submit a photo for this section please contact Keith.
For Christmas week, I wanted to include this photo by Stefano Unterthiner of two Svalbard Reindeer fighting over their harem. It was awarded one of the top nature photos of 2021.
Learn something new
This section is curated by members Shags Shagrin and aims to teach our members and guests something new, fun, and useful! If you have any ideas on a fun trick or skill you'd like to share please contact Shags.
You Really DON'T Want to Know!!
A five+ minute video on How Hot Dogs are Made. You have been forewarned!
Holiday Party Pictures
Two (2) screenshots of the party
Winners of the games
Angelica Marotta – President Elect eclub of Silicon Valley (ugly sweater contest – most festive)
Laine Kohama – The Rotary Foundation - Eclub of Hawaii (ugly sweater contest – ugliest)
Brett Sham – President eclub of Silicon Valley (Virtual Vacation Game)
The Ugly Sweater Contest is still on – just online! We are still collecting selfies from our members, and we will be announcing the winner of the online contest after December 27. If you want to participate, just send your picture via email to the Membership Committee members and/or post them on social media using #rotaryholidayparty2021
Below are some of the selfies that have already been sent. If you want to help them win, all you have to do is vote for them (in the comments)!
Nathalie Champion – President eclub of Hawaii
Marcia Caldirola – Sister Club Co-chair - eclub of Hawaii
Service report
Tell us about service you’ve done recently in your community.
Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
Our events & projects
We hold our meetings online, but we do regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley! The section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of the events and service projects listed here.
Upcoming events
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
District 5170 events
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
More events coming soon! All events are open to guests, unless otherwise mentioned. Feel free to join us! If you ever have questions, please email inquiries@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Happy Dollars: do good by sharing something good
Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.
Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use, and the message that you leave for happy dollars will be posted in our online meeting the following week for the entire week for folks to see! (Pending that it’s appropriate!)
Here are the happy dollars contributions from last week!
This section is usually updated in the early hours of Saturday, so contributions made over the weekend may not be listed here.
powered by TypeformProgram: Project Backboard: Art, Work & Basketball
Speaker: Dan Peterson
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub nor Rotary International.
If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directly or submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!
Our speaker this week is Dan Peterson, the Founder & Director of Project Backboard. Dan introduces his work and explains how including "museum quality" artwork on public basketball courts can help build communities.
A former college basketball player, high school coach, and community relation manager for the Memphis Grizzlies, Dan is the founder and director of the non-profit organization Project Backboard, whose mission is to ensure that all communities have a safe and inviting place to play basketball.
Members and guests, please welcome Dan Peterson!
To learn more about Project Backboard, go to:
https://www.projectbackboard.org
https://www.commonpractice.online
Upcoming program recording schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
