Saturday on Sunday

Posted on 19 Mar 2009 by James Willamor

Last Sunday art, music, and skateboarding were on display at Saturday Skateboards on the edge of Plaza-Midwood. The event featured skateboarding, original screen printed shirts by Ink Floyd, food, drinks, bands, artwork, and more. Photo sideshow and more after the page break.

photos: James Willamor; view these photos on Flickr

“What’s going on down there? A job fair?” an older gentleman asks without getting up from his front porch chair. “No, it’s an art, music, skateboarding thing” I reply as I head down the sidewalk towards the old warehouse. Across the street from the inquisitive man is a homemade yard sign. “For sale — $500 down, $650 a month. Low credit score OK.”

Only a few small signs facing Louise Avenue denote possible life inside an otherwise abandoned looking warehouse. That, along with the blaring guitar and drums every time the door opens. Inside I find a minimally but artfully decorated office cum showroom, and an adjoining open space filled with people.

The mood is set by dim lighting and a large projector showing cult classics “Flash Gordon” and “Akira” on the side of the warehouse. While many people are checking out art adorned walls and tables of screen printed shirts, the main attraction is the modest but well designed skate park. Several dozen skaters take turns and cheer one another on before spectators sipping cheap beer. Some participants grew up skateboarding in the 1980s, others were not yet born that decade.

While I can’t say I am normally a huge fan of skateboarding – or thrash guitar bands – I find myself enjoying the festive atmosphere. A scene hidden away in some forgotten old warehouse, where artists and musicians and skateboards and –perhaps most importantly, entrepreneurs — have turned something useless into something social, something beautiful in its own unique way, something the city needs.