Amazon is joining the Hoopfest Team as a Major Sponsor for The Best Basketball Weekend On Earth! Make sure to check out the Amazon Awards, Amazon Alley and Amazon Lot during Hoopfest weekend. The Amazon Lot will feature 13 courts with artwork designed by local artists that you won’t want to miss!
Amazon is excited to support a new opportunity for Spokane artists to showcase their talents at Hoopfest. This partnership combines two causes Amazon deeply values: community building events and supporting local artists. As Amazon’s presence grows in Spokane, they believe it is important to be good neighbors and support events like Hoopfest that bring people together. Amazon is honored to support 13 courts at the Amazon Lot for the largest 3-on-3 tournament in the world. For a vibrant community, they also believe it is important to provide opportunities and recognition for the many talented artists in Spokane.
The Amazon team can’t wait for Hoopfest attendees to see all of the creative backboard designs come to life during the event. Amazon would like to congratulate each of the selected artists and the Spokane Hoopfest Association for 31 great years of hosting this event!
See all of the amazing Amazon Lot backboard artwork designed by local Spokane artists below!
Artist: Kevin Montgomery
Description: Kevin enjoys photographing iconic images in Spokane and using different editing tools to give those images a different look.
Bio: Kevin is originally from Washburn, Illinois and started taking photos for his high school yearbook. He has continued taking photos through his Air Force career as well. Kevin has lived in Spokane for about 7 years now and enjoys photographing old cars to iconic landmarks in the city.
Artist: Nicholas Malara
Description: Nicholas wanted to make a backboard image that had a nostalgic vibe with a little bit of humor in it. These tend to be two of the main characteristics for a lot of his artwork. Nicholas also wanted to make an illustration that captures the spirit of Hoopfest. This event is about community, sports, and creating great memories. Have fun out there and good luck!
Bio: Nick Malara has been a creative professional since earning a BFA in illustration in 2000. Over the years he has worked in industries such as apparel, product manufacturing, game development and advertising. He has illustrated several children’s book titles including some for Little Golden Books. User interface design and retro art are a few of his creative passions. Currently he is a senior designer for Seven2, a digital media advertising firm located in downtown Spokane, WA.
Artist: Rebekah Wilding
Bio: Rebekah has always loved arts, and gravitating toward graphic art came naturally to me. She is self-taught, so the process took a little while, but I eventually made graphic arts my career and enjoy working at NBS Promos. Rebekah grew up in Spokane and while she doesn’t play basketball, Rebekah thinks it’s awesome that Spokane hosts Hoopfest. She loves the way galaxies look, and thought a basketball planet would be a pretty cool design for the largest 3 on 3 tournament in the world.
Artist: Kensie Griep
Description: “Pen and ink flower sketch”. Blossoms of color hidden beneath a rough sketch outline of an assortment of flowers. Equally beautiful and chaotic.
Bio: Kensie is a Spokane local with an love for the natural world and Eerie artwork. If she could live in a hobbit hole in the middle of the Hoh Rainforest, that would be her ultimate dream!
Artist: Anthony Noble
Description: The Hoop Planet glows in the 90s Era teal, orange, and purple of past Hoopfest logos. The rings of the planet represent a hoop continuously in orbit of a basketball planet. Aliens look on in awe, aspiring to ball with the best.
Bio: Anthony is a Spokane native deeply engrained in Hoopfest and PNW culture. He studied architectural design at WSU, but graphic design is also a side passion of his.
Artist: Kiyah Branch
Bio: Kiyah is thirteen years old and enjoys drawing, playing video games, and spending time with her siblings. Her artwork portrays a young person’s love of music, art, and basketball.
Artist: Emily Sackmann
Bio: Emily made Spokane her home after graduating from Gonzaga and has worked locally as a structural engineer for 8 years. She spent her childhood drawing and playing basketball and continues to foster a love of design and hoops. Her backboard design uses digital media, a repeating sneaker pattern, and vibrant colors to reflect the many players and summer vibes found at Hoopfest. She regularly keeps a sketchbook, and her work can be found on Instagram @sackmann_sketchbook.
Artist: Vic Holman
Description: Vic’s idea originated not from the ball or net, but about the arc of the ball in motion, during a shot to the basket. Then, he thought how does the arc relate to downtown Spokane? Vic’s mind jumped to the Spokane River waterfalls and how in the past salmon would create an arc to leap and fight up and over the waterfalls to reach their migration goal. The design is influenced by the Pacific Northwest Native American artwork.
Bio: Vic was one of those kids that preferred drawing to doing homework. Drawing continued all through the school years and led to three years of Art/Graphic Design in college. From there, he worked in advertising for 43+ years, designing and working on creative projects. Vic is now retired and enjoy playing guitar, plus recording and releasing his own music online as “Horses Undecided”.
Artist: Nate Mannan
Description: In this piece Nate wanted to evoke the rough and tumble vibrance of street ball and street art. He created the triptych collage for utility during play. but also as an invitation to visually wander through the individual elements during down time. Nate is happy to represent the Spokane posse with this piece, and hope they enjoy it as well.
Bio: Nate is a mixtape compiler, graphic designer, artist, and general founder of Spokane Has A Posse (join now!), He enjoys using typography, reappropriated illustration, color, and blending to produce visually engaging mazes of pOp art. Nate’s inspiration comes from the history of art, music, American subcultures and the slang thereof. His ambition is to make visual mixtapes worthy of being called jazz poetry.
Artist: Bug Gonzales
Description: Bug wanted to do something bright, and colorful for the backboard. Color blocking isn’t the easiest but he thought it was pretty with the color blocked shading of a person shooting into the rainbow background.
Bio: Bug is a student at The Community School and very proud to be. He is fifteen years old and a transgender male. He loves creating art and thankful for this unique opportunity.
Artist: Casadee Subart
Description: The Pavilion at Riverfront Park is one of the most iconic sites in Spokane. The goal of this artwork was to embrace this tremendous location and add a splash of color!
Bio: Casadee Subart is a recent graduate from the University of Colorado Boulder. She received a Bachelors of Science in Strategic Communication with a focus on Media Design. Whenever Casadee isn’t designing you can find her playing basketball, hiking, reading, or visiting her brother, Brady, in Spokane.
Artist: Tami Brown
Description: Tami’s design includes a basketball doubling as a sun, inspired by our city’s name Spokane – An Indian word meaning “Children of the Sun” or “Sun People”. The stylized hand in front of the deep blue sky is pushing the sun into the hoop for 2 points.
Bio: Tami is a Spokane native that is currently an Art and Library teacher at a local middle school. I live by the motto, If you’re not creating Art, What are you doing?
Artist: Danielle Davis
Description: This bold, playful design was created in an attempt to encapsulate the fun, fast-paced, buzzing, and slightly chaotic feel of Hoopfest. Textured shadows and bold colors were used to give the piece a funky, retro feel.
Bio: Danielle Davis is a native Spokanite who works as a freelance graphic designer, illustrator and artist. From mural painting to woodworking to sculpture, she is on a mission to try every creative medium at least once. When not dabbling in the artistic realm, Danielle is usually barefoot outdoors, spending time with her husband Jon and their three small sons.
