Pittsburgh's Pickleball Courts Are an Abstract Riot of Color

How a public works project became the city's most photographed art installation.


Pittsburgh's Pickleball Courts Are an Abstract Riot of Color

The city repainted twelve municipal pickleball courts last summer, hiring local muralists to transform each court into a geometric composition. The result — bold blocks of ochre, teal, and rust overlaid on regulation striping — went viral within a week.

Form Follows Function Follows Instagram

The courts are fully playable. The lines are regulation width and color. But the surfaces between them are anything but neutral — a decision the parks department initially resisted and now takes full credit for.

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