Concordia Lutheran College takes street art to a new level
Concordia Lutheran College Year 6 students will this week reveal the fifth iteration of its skateboard deck art project. For the past five years students at the Junior Campus have been making unique handmade pieces of art from skateboards and this year have been asked to undertake a public showing of the work by the Toowoomba Lighthouse’s Write Gallery.
The Write Gallery in Margaret Street has a revolving calendar of exhibitions and shows which focus on visual story-telling and Concordia art teacher John Trappett said the exhibition will take the boards to a whole new audience.
“Skateboard deck art is a contemporary art moment that have grown alongside the rise of popularity of skateboarding as a sport,” Mr Trappett said. “In the 1980s the first illustrations began to appear and was representative of the street art done by graffiti artists, so you saw a lot of skulls and punk rock designs.
“Creating and designing skateboard decks has become increasingly popular over the years and has got to the point that it is not just skate brands that are creating deck art, but worldwide artists are completing their work on skateboard decks.
“The best part is you can design your own. Designing your own skateboard deck art is a fun and creative way to show off and express your artistic side and our students are now looking at this a rite of passage of finishing Concordia Primary ... the kids put a lot of time and thought into their designs.
This year will feature 50 completed boards and they are done using Posca pens, which is a unique water-based formulation delivers bright opaque colours that withstand the passage of time.
“These boards will not be used for skating around the park but are designed to be permanent art works that the students can keep forever,” Mr Trappett said.
The Lighthouse Skateboard Deck Art Exhibition will be held at the The Write Gallery, 126 Margaret Street from 10 am until 2pm on October the 22nd 2023.
