How Skateboarding And Art Come Together At Local Libraries

The Great River Regional Library is planning to combine art, skateboarding, and local libraries into an afternoon event aimed at teenagers.

Do Rad Things is the brainchild of professional skateboarder Mark Rivard. In 2004, after knee surgery, he began drawing on skateboard decks and developed a small following for his art. Those early projects led to speaking engagements, more artwork, an endorsement deal with Sharpie markers, and eventually a program that introduces teenagers to art through the use of skateboard decks.

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At the two-hour seminars planned at several Great River Regional Library branches over the next three months, Rivard will talk about his unique path into the art world, and then lead students into their own art projects featuring a skateboard deck as a canvas. In an interview with WJON News, the Minneapolis-based artist says he holds many of these events each month in schools, libraries, and military bases across the nation.

The free events at the Great River Regional Library are limited to 10-15 students per session, so pre-registration is required. Each student will leave the event with their own artwork on a skateboard deck, a set of Sharpie markers, and, according to the website, “tons of cool swag”.