On Sunday, the Warm Springs Community Action Team and the Papalaxsimisha group unveiled a vibrant new design for the local basketball court off of Paiute Ave. in Warm Springs.
Designer and painter Charlene Dimmick said she incorporated elements that give a nod to each of the three tribes in Warm Springs.
“If you look at the blue and pink, that’s from the Warm Springs bands,” she said. “Using the yellows, I wanted to honor the Paiute tribes, because they use a lot of the different grasses in the weaving of their baskets…and with the blue coming from the Wasco people, because they’re also river people too like the Warm Springs.”
She designed the court as a whole after Indian suitcases, which tribes often used to carry goods.
The backboards of the hoops were designed to look like huckleberry baskets, as a parallel to the basket used in the sport.
“As a kid, my grandma’s house was right there, and when I would watch as a little kid, everyone kind of played right in here,” Dimmick said.
“They’d be playing late at night…everyone comes here to play at one point. It’s in the middle of Warm Springs, right by the highway, and so I wanted to make sure that this was really beautiful and that’s why I used the vibrant colors.”
It took them only one week to fully redesign the court.
“I just hope that people respect the space, really help take care of it,” Dimmick added. “We want to continue these kinds of projects in Warm Springs and bringing art all over, so that’s something I look forward to doing in the future.”
Kids signed up for a shoot-out, in which they raced to beat the clock and shoot the most hoops.
The event also included an art walk to showcase meaningful murals painted by young community members.
They shared messages to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women, the LGBTQ+ community and more.
