My son at the park

Taylor and I stopped by the park one of the evenings before the opening. He checked out the bowls. Pretty funny shot. I told him it would never be like this again. Empty that is.

Gary Holl at the Santa Cruz Skatepark today

Santa Cruz Skatepark Grand Opening Photo's

Photo's by my dad who has been driving me to skateparks and contests for decades. He is a retired photographer. At 76 years old he has taken more skate photos then any dad I know. Thanks pops. From Newark, Winchester, Carlsbad, Spring Valley, Modesto, Campbell he would drop me off at a park and go golfing.

How the Skatepark art wave was created.

It took over a year from start to finish to complete the wave art at the park. I went to the first public art meeting on a rainy Saturday January 2006. There were over 25 artists from all over the bay area. It was my first public art meeting and in the posting it said you had to attend this meeting if you wanted to submit a public art project for the skatepark. I figured I had nothing to loose and didn't want to look back years later wondering why I didn't at least try. The thing I had going was the three requirements that were listed. Which was Santa Cruz resident, artist and skateboarder. Nothing like narrowing the field and making being a skateboarder an added bonus. I put together a few different ideas, one was the sandblasted wave idea, and the others were two custom tile graphic ideas with Danny Sun and Mojo. In the end they didn't want to maintain ceramic tiles and went with Dave's stamped tiles, which was a good call. I teamed up with Jimbo Phillips and David Pettigrew to complete the project. Which consisted of several meetings and interviews, quote on project cost, how we were going to do it safely and in budget, picking the stain colors, pressure washing the pipe, putting two coats of stain, cleaning, putting on the blasting mat, placing on the paper wave outline, four guys hand cutting the art, sandblasting the wave, taking off the blasting mat and two days of hand painting a sealer on only the blue part to add contrast to the color.



PUBLIC ART PROJECT
In November, 2005, the Public Art Committee issued a request for proposals (RFP) for public art at the soon-to-be-built skate park at Mike Fox Park. The RFP stated a preference for proposals that involve members of the skate community in the project design, fabrication or installation. To attract local or "emerging" artists, the Public Art Committee held an informational meeting prior to the submission deadline. At this meeting, skate park designer Zach Wormhoudt provided more detailed information about the project and UCSC Assistant Faculty member Dee Hibbert-Jones (also a Public Art Committee member) provided advice and direction on submitting public art proposals.

Twenty-six submissions were reviewed by a selection panel of Public Art Committee members Kathleen Moodie, Jane Gregorius, Dee Hibbert-Jones, and Paul Rodrigues; Councilmember Ryan Coonerty; skate park designer Zach Wormhoudt; and local artists Peggy Snider and David Anderson. After extensive review and interviews the panel recommended to the Public Art Committee (PAC) the selection of three projects submitted by local artists Patrick Haywood, Judi Oyama, and Dave Gardner. The Public Art Committee, Arts Commission and City Council approved those recommendations in April.


Skate Park Artwork - Santa Cruz, CA
The City of Santa Cruz Public Art Committee invites proposals from artists (individual or teams) to design, fabricate, and install artwork for a new skate park to be built in spring 2006. Designed by internationally-recognized skate park designer, Zach Wormhoudt, a Santa Cruz native, the Skate Park will include approximately 15,000 square-foot of concrete surface with three skating bowls and numerous other skating features. Proposals for both large and small projects are welcome. The Committee particularly welcomes project proposals that involve members of the local skate community, or are designed and/or fabricated in collaboration with members of the local skate community. Artists may propose artwork in any medium that is sufficiently durable, safe and appropriate for this high-use, high-visibility outdoor location. Deadline: February 17, 2006.


PUBLIC ART PROJECT
In November, 2005, the Public Art Committee issued a request for proposals (RFP) for public art at the soon-to-be-built skate park at Mike Fox Park. The RFP stated a preference for proposals that involve members of the skate community in the project design, fabrication or installation. To attract local or "emerging" artists, the Public Art Committee held an informational meeting prior to the submission deadline. At this meeting, skate park designer Zach Wormhoudt provided more detailed information about the project and UCSC Assistant Faculty member Dee Hibbert-Jones (also a Public Art Committee member) provided advice and direction on submitting public art proposals.

Twenty-six submissions were reviewed by a selection panel of Public Art Committee members Kathleen Moodie, Jane Gregorius, Dee Hibbert-Jones, and Paul Rodrigues; Councilmember Ryan Coonerty; skate park designer Zach Wormhoudt; and local artists Peggy Snider and David Anderson. After extensive review and interviews the panel recommended to the Public Art Committee (PAC) the selection of three projects submitted by local artists Patrick Haywood, Judi Oyama, and Dave Gardner. The Public Art Committee, Arts Commission and City Council approved those recommendations in April.

Public Art Project Proposal Summaries:

Patrick Haywood - Concept drawing excerpted from proposal
Local artist Patrick Haywood has an MFA in Studio Art, is the Photography Studio Manager at the California College of the Arts in Oakland and an adjunct lecturer in the Cabrillo College Photography Department. His proposal is to create an approximately 12' x 6' photographic portrait of 150 members of the local skate boarding community. He plans to work with local skate shops to host "photo days", asking each person photographed to answer, in writing on the photograph, the question, "What's the worst that could happen if I went for it." The finished piece will consist of 150 photographs printed on outdoor tiles and installed in a fabricated steel frame. Particular attention will be paid to photographing a diverse cross-section of the local skateboarding community, with a goal of promoting a sense of ownership in and stewardship of the park.

Dave Gardner - Concept drawing
David Gardner has been "an active and dedicated skateboarder and surfer, up and down the coast of California, but mostly here in Santa Cruz" for nearly 30 years. Dave stamped concrete textures (in the form of waves and/or faces) around the lip of the two skate bowls. Along with adding dynamic colors and forms to the surface of the park, this proposal also serves functional and aesthetic needs of the skaters, as it provides visual and auditory cues to their movements without compromising the skating texture of the bowls.

Judi Oyama - Concept drawing
Judi Oyama was born and raised in Santa Cruz, has been skateboarding for 33 years (currently ranked first in the World in slalom masters), and is an artist and graphic designer for Giro/Bell Sports. Judi worked with local skate artist Jimbo Phillips and concrete artist David Pettigrew to create the park's strongest visual element, the 18' full pipe. A graphic grey-tone wave illustration was transferred onto the full pipe using sandblasting and other concrete sculpting techniques. In addition to highlighting the wave form of the full pipe and addressing the park's proximity to the ocean, the finished piece serves the functional need of discouraging park visitors from climbing on the wave form.