Art Market

SFMOMA partnered with the Golden State Warriors to bring art to the team’s new arena.

Benjamin Sutton
Jun 12, 2019 5:12PM, via San Francisco Chronicle

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.

Whether or not they come back from their current deficit to the Toronto Raptors to win a third consecutive NBA title, the Golden State Warriors are sure to have at least one trophy in their new arena when it opens this fall: a 700-pound Alexander Calder mobile. That work, along with a large outdoor sculpture by Isamu Noguchi, will be loaned to the beloved Bay Area basketball franchise by SFMOMA as part of a slew of partnerships and programs to fill the new arena, Chase Center, with art.

In addition to the works borrowed from or commissioned by SFMOMA specifically for Chase Center, the Warriors’ new San Francisco digs will boast a major outdoor sculpture by Olafur Eliasson, curated Dorka Keehn. More than 10 new works are also being commissioned for the arena by the JP Morgan Chase Art Collection, and works by an additional 33 artists have been commissioned by contractor Sports and the Arts, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

“This is the new public gathering place in the Bay Area, and we want it to reflect sports, entertainment and art,” Rick Welts, the CEO and President of the Golden State Warriors, told the Chronicle.

The artistic offerings at Chase Center will be a step up from those at Oracle Arena, the team’s longtime stadium in Oakland where it will play its final game on Friday—a must-win for the Warriors, who are down three games to two in their best-of-seven NBA championship series against the Raptors. However, Chase Center won’t be the only sports arena in the U.S. with an impressive eye for art. Several others, including the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, also boast ambitious contemporary art programs.

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Benjamin Sutton