Multiple locations

Where's the Ball?
(The Jax)

Giant steel jacks that pull you away from the screen and back to a time when play meant sitting together on the grass, bridging generations through a game your grandparents might have to explain.

Hero image by Dan Adams

About the work

Where's the Ball? (The Jax) is a monumental sculpture series co-designed and built by artists Mark Deem and Kevin Byall. Each installation is built one at a time, never repeated—every jax its own composition, scaled to its space.

The work began with a found object. Mark Deem discovered the first jack wedged in a wall during a cottage restoration. The home had belonged to a single mother raising two daughters, and that antique toy—still in Mark's possession—became the seed of the series.

Mark and Kevin met by chance at an O'Reilly's in Reno and got to talking: about toys, about nostalgia, about making something that could pull people off their phones and back to the grass. A few years later, here we are.

The name comes from the game itself. When you play jacks, what's the first thing you lose? The ball. Hence: Where's the Ball?

A note on the lineage: the V1 jax—a single 9-foot sculpture—debuted at Black Rock City in 2024 and also appeared as part of One Tin Soldier, Misfit Toys' 2025 Burning Man Honorarium installation. That work now lives permanently at Seaport Studios in Richmond. The Golden Gate Park installation is V2: a completely new, site-specific commission, custom-built from scratch and designed for families and the public. Two different jax, two different builds.

The artists

Co-designer, Builder & Lead Fabricator

Kevin Byall

Artist, designer, and fabricator. Kevin co-designed and built Where's the Ball? from the ground up.

Co-designer & Founder, Misfit Toys Art

Mark Deem

Founder of Misfit Toys Art. Mark builds large-scale interactive sculpture for Golden Gate Park, Black Rock City, and anywhere people gather to wonder.

Kevin Byall, co-designer and lead fabricator of Where's the Ball? (The Jax), leans on a jax sculpture surrounded by Benchmark Abrasives supplies at Golden Gate Park, March 2026
Mark Deem, founder of Misfit Toys Art, seated on one of the steel jax sculptures during installation at the Conservatory of Flowers lawn, Golden Gate Park, March 2026

The locations

Ten monumental steel jax sculptures scattered across the lawn of the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park at sunset, March 2026

Version 2.0 — Golden Gate Park, March 2026

Conservatory of Flowers lawn

A new commission—and an entirely different build from V1. Site-specific and custom-fabricated for Golden Gate Park, scaled to roughly 85 times the original toy. Designed for families and younger visitors, more accessible than V1, and built for this lawn. Low enough to sit on, wide enough to crawl under.

Placed in partnership with @sfrecpark, @illuminatethearts, @building180, and @bigartloop. Major support: Sijbrandi Foundation. In-kind support: Benchmark Abrasives.

Version 1.0 — 2024

Seaport Studios, Richmond CA

The original iteration of the series—a single 9-foot jax, self-funded by Misfit Toys Art, co-designed and fabricated with Kevin Byall. Debuted at Black Rock City in 2024, then returned to the playa as part of One Tin Soldier, Misfit Toys' 2025 Burning Man Honorarium installation. Now lives permanently at Seaport Studios in Richmond, CA.

@seaportartstudios

Where's the Ball v1.0 at Seaport Studios, Richmond

Find the jax

On view at the Conservatory of Flowers lawn, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Installation update
March 17, 2026

Giant Steel Jax Land in Golden Gate Park—and the Ball Is Still Missing

Misfit Toys Art Collective installs Where's the Ball? (The Jax) on San Francisco's Golden Mile

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, March 17, 2026—Misfit Toys Art Collective installed Where's the Ball? (The Jax) on the lawn of the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Ten large-scale galvanized steel jax scattered across the grass—each one roughly 85 times the scale of the original toy, designed for the grass and the people who walk through it. Low enough to sit on, wide enough to crawl under. The kind of thing that stops people mid-walk and doesn't let them leave without talking to a stranger.

The piece is rooted in a found object. Founder Mark Deem discovered the first jack wedged in a wall during a 1930s cottage demolition—the home had belonged to a single mother raising two daughters. That antique toy, still in Deem's possession, sparked an idea that would scale a childhood game to monumental proportions.

"I found that jack wedged in a wall during a demolition. The home had belonged to a single mother raising two daughters. That little toy started all of this."

—Mark Deem, Misfit Toys Art

Deem met fabricator Kevin Byall by chance at an O'Reilly's in Reno. What started as a conversation about nostalgia and getting people off their phones became a years-long partnership.

"Mark and I got to talking in a parking lot in Reno about getting people off their phones. That was it. A few years later here we are."

—Kevin Byall, fabricator, Where's the Ball? (The Jax)

The Golden Gate Park installation is V2—a completely new, site-specific commission custom-built for this lawn, designed for families and public spaces. It is distinct from V1, the original 9-foot jax that debuted at Black Rock City in 2024 and also appeared as part of One Tin Soldier, Misfit Toys' 2025 Burning Man Honorarium project. That original jax now lives permanently at Seaport Studios in Richmond, CA. The V2 jax were fabricated with support from Pacific Galvanizing and Benchmark Abrasives.

Where's the Ball? joins Remember When (L-O-V-E Blocks) on the JFK Promenade, where Misfit Toys has been a Golden Gate Park fixture since 2022. Both works are part of San Francisco's Big Art Loop—a 34-mile walkable trail turning the city into an open-air gallery.

What the partners said

"At Illuminate, we have three simple rules: be beautiful, carry the spirit of love, and make people smile. These works do all three."

—Ben Davis, Founder & CEO, Illuminate the Arts

"Play is at the heart of creativity. Supporting artists to bring that spirit of love, play, and creation into our parks is how we nurture both our communities and the next generation of creative thinkers."

—Shannon Riley, Founder & CEO, Building 180

"'Where's the Ball' brings a spirit of play to the JFK Promenade and highlights the work of a local artist whose installation invites visitors to engage with the park—and with each other—in a fresh and joyful way."

—Aliza Marks, CEO, Big Art Loop

Source: SF Recreation & Park Department press release, March 18, 2026

Placed in partnership with

None of this happens without these people. Go show them some love.

@sfrecpark • @illuminatethearts • @building180 • @bigartloop
Major support
Sijbrandi Foundation
In-kind support
Benchmark Abrasives

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