Sharmistha Ray Turns Pickleball Courts Into a Playable Work of Public Art

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Public art is meant to be observed, but Sharmistha Ray’s latest commission invites people to actually step into the composition. At Pittsburgh’s new Arts Landing civic space, the artist has transformed a pair of pickleball courts into a colorful geometric mural that doubles as a fully playable surface. Each match becomes part of the artwork itself.

Aerial view of a vividly painted sports court featuring Sharmistha Ray Geometry of Play-inspired geometric patterns in bright colors, surrounded by benches and plants.

Photography by Ross Ribblett; courtesy Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

Titled Geometry of Play, the installation marks Pittsburgh’s first artist-designed pickleball courts and joins seven other public art commissions at Arts Landing, a new gathering space developed by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The boundaries of the court serve as the foundation for an abstract composition, which was inspired by the visual logic of historic game boards.

Drawing from board games such as the Indian game Pachisi (later adapted into Parcheesi in the United States), the mural layers interlocking circles, triangles, grids, and pathways into a kaleidoscopic composition. The design spans the full ROYGBIV color spectrum; the rainbow reference serves as a symbol of inclusion while encouraging shifting visual relationships as players move across the surface.

A man in a suit throws a ring while a woman stands beside him holding a ball, in a colorful outdoor urban area with onlookers and people in costumes—a lively scene reminiscent of Sharmistha Ray’s Geometry of Play.

Guests play pickleball at the unveiling of ‘Geometry of Play.’ Photography by Chris Uhren; courtesy of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Geometry of Play changes as the courts are used. The movement of players activates the design, reinforcing pickleball’s reputation as an accessible, social sport while transforming the courts into a shared civic space for recreation and gathering.

The commission continues Ray’s interdisciplinary practice, which spans painting, installation, and public art. Born in Kolkata and raised in Kuwait before moving to the United States, the artist frequently draws from South Asian visual traditions while exploring themes of identity, belonging, and cultural exchange through geometric abstraction.

A colorful painted court inspired by Sharmistha Ray Geometry of Play, featuring concentric circles, diagonal stripes in blue tones, and intersecting white lines on an orange background.

Photography by Chris Uhren; courtesy of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

Ray’s recent projects include a large-scale installation at Grand Central Terminal, a commission for Pittsburgh International Airport’s new terminal, and animated works created with an original score by Grammy Award-winning musician Arooj Aftab.

Designed by landscape architecture firm Field Operations, the $31 million Arts Landing development brings together public art, performance, recreation, and community programming in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. Geometry of Play joins installations by artists including Vanessa German, Thaddeus Mosley, Shikeith, Mikael Owunna and Marques Redd, Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis, Darian Johnson, and John Peña, with the inaugural commissions remaining on view for at least one year.

Aerial view of a colorful abstract mural inspired by Sharmistha Ray’s Geometry of Play, with vibrant geometric shapes and concentric circles, intersected by a black pipe and white grid lines.

Photography by Ross Ribblett; courtesy of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

Arts Landing is free and open to the public daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

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