By now, most of y’all have probably driven or walked by the 8-foot-wide, 3D basketball (or at least seen the photos circulating around social media) that’s currently displayed on Main St.

The temporary public art installation titled “Beyond the Court”– a collab between Experience Columbia SC, One Columbia, First Citizens Bank + several local artists– was created in celebration of Columbia hosting the NCAA basketball tournament (March 21-24) for the first time since 1970.

Here are some quick facts about the artwork:

📍 First Citizens Green on the corner on Main + Lady St., across from Cantina 76. 25,000 visitors are expected to be in Columbia for the tournament, some of which will be staying + hanging out on Main St.– making the First Citizens Green an ideal, high foot traffic location for the artwork.

✂ The basketball is made completely of styrofoam and is hollow in the center. It started as a giant styrofoam box before it was cut in the shape of a sphere.

🏋 10. The number of people it took to lift the basketball in place. So there definitely won’t be any airballs traveling down Main St.

🎨 6. The number of local artists (Josh Jackson, Keith Tolen, thomas the younger, Ty Davis Bey, sludgepony + Shelby LeBlanc) who painted each of the six sections of the basketball. It took the artists ~3 weeks total to complete their work– done in the Town Theatre warehouse. One section of the basketball, painted by Josh Jackson, is dedicated to First Citizens Bank’s nonprofit partner, Teen Cancer America.

📸 Beyond the Court is only temporary, and will be taken down sometime during the week following the tournament. So don’t waste time on the double dribble and be sure to get photos of the larger-than-life basketball + post them with #RealColumbiaSC.

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