Helmets guys please

Sorry to read about this skater but Please! wear helmets folks.

Allysha Bergado and Lizzie Armanto skating the park after their Thrasher Magazine shoot in San Francisco

Allysha Bergado


Lizzie Armanto


Allysha Bergado and Lizzie Armanto two of the best vert skateboarders in the world. They are as sweet as they are rippers.


Group shot with my kids and Joe Fong and his son. Joe and I skated back in the 70's together. Oldschool as we call it. We still skate together. I skate Lake Cunningham better than the Santa Cruz park.


I went to the Combi Pool Party to watch these women rip. My little video clip.

Flickr Santa Cruz Slide Show how it was built 2007

Can't believe it has almost been 4 years since the park opened. I'm glad people have been respectful of the wave graphic.



Santa Cruz Skate Park link to flickr slide show

A little sneak peak back at some of the skateboard parks we had to ride back in the day.

Google Maps location on street view

Except for the tree it is a pretty good view.


View Larger Map

Go Skateboarding Day Indy footage Santa Cruz

Girl Ripping the park May 8, 2010

Guys when you see a girl ripping. Don't forget to tell her so. Don't wait 20 years and say something cause she probably would of ripped even harder if someone acknowledged that she was ripping at all. Believe me I know.

Photo Shoot at the Santa Cruz Skatepark 1-26

Photo shoot at the Santa Cruz Skate Park by Lucia Griggi. Ben Marcus is working on a skateboard history book and after shooting at NHS with Jason Jessie, Jeff Kendall, Bob Denike, Richard Novak, Doug Haut, Tim Piumarta, and David Freil. The group headed to the skate park for a quick shoot before the sun went down. Zach who's father is named after the park and the park builder was photographed for the book. Zach a big wave rider on stand by for Mavericks.

Santa Cruz Skatepark Saturday Dec. 5 session

My friends son Taj was ripping. These guys were stoked watching. Skateboarding is cool cause it brings all kinds together with one thing in common. The love of skating. They headed out on there longboards and rode away with smiles.

Santa Cruz Sentinel Surf Photo contest

Hey it's a permanent wave as I see it. A little shout to Jimbo Phillips and Dave of Diamond D Concrete and crew. Many countless hours of work. More a love of the project then for the money.

Vote if you want.
Voting ends October 24, 2008

October 1 Final Wave more contrast

Santa Cruz Skatepark more contrast to the wave project.

Wave up date white wash

Friday morning a little more white wash added.



Thursday morning a little sampling of the update. Thanks for Jimbo, Dave from Diamond D Concrete and crew. Crystal from Parks and Recreation art council and others. It will look great when finished and really stand out. Who knew that the concrete was darker underneath the first layer of sand blast. Great excuse to go skate and work again. Sorry I'm not able to help out like I'd like Dave. It looks great.

Santa Cruz Skatepark Wave June 2008

A bit of wear and tear but holding strong.

Skateboard Class at the park Nov. 3

Yesterday's class was amazing! It was the first beginning skateboard class Gary and I had done for Santa Cruz Parks and Rec. We had 11 kids ages 5-9 signed up with an adult female. I found out on Friday that I had 9 more on a waiting list. Father of child number 10 called me directly at work (small town). We had a good early start at 9:00 am the weather was perfect and the local skaters were respectful and patient with us taking over sections of the park. It was great to see the kids learn to fakie in the little pool. Learning the feeling of going back and forth and teaching them balance and how by bending the knees and straightening up they could get some momentum. We even got the kids in the full pipe and big pool. They were in awe of the size and the echo inside. The smiles say it all.
I want to Thanks Drew for driving all the way to SC even though he had a birthday for his niece to attend. Also Mike for helping all the other parents that gave a hand. We learned that we need more skate teachers and a bit shorter class session. We enjoyed teaching the class and will do it again!

(Skaters not to worry it will be like once every six months.)

Tagging sucks!

If you see anyone tagging your park stop them! Every time they tag the park will get shut down and they will sand blast off the tagging which leaves it rough for slides... All the gray spots in the pool are sand blasted tag marks! Just thought you should know this is your park if you want it to be around and want more parks in Santa Cruz, Capitola, Aptos...take care of it.
You guys are lucky and have a park to skate. Many of us elders didn't have a park in town and had to drive hours away to play.

Santa Cruz Skate park gets some press

Updated images of the Skate Park on the Parks and Recreation Website. The park will appear on the cover with an article in Concrete Decor Magazine and in the travel section in a major publication. It is currently in Michael Brookes Concrete Wave magazine with a photo of Jimbo Phillips in front of the wave. It is also currently online at the Concrete Network website thanks to Dave at Diamond D Concrete.

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.

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.

Santa Cruz Skatepark Wave

Santa Cruz Skatepark Grand Opening

Rain or Shine!
Even though it rained hard in the morning. The sun came out in time to dry the park. The stage was set, all booths up, all prizes and a host of local talent and skaters from the Bay area showed up to skate. Even a lone Bell rider Ryan Connors from as far away as Claremont near San Diego. This park is going to be a draw for kids and parents from all over and will be quite the landmark place to skate. It will help step up the caliber of skating in this town.
Thanks to all my Bell Sports work friends for donating product for this event. Terri, Diana, Kyle and Austin for staging the tent and fitting helmets on all the skaters. We had a great turn out. One of the kids that was fitted in a helmet that day ended up being on of the local stand outs at the event.
Zach started the tour. Lisa asked me if they should skate prior to ceremonies? The clouds were coming. I said, Yes. Within a few moments the skaters and photographers were in. The skating was intense and amazing and then the drops of rain started. Lisa made the call everyone out. People went under tents and many did not as the rain came down. The ceremony started it was great to hear all the people that helped and all the team work it took over the years to make it happen. They say it took ten years. I say it took 25 years. Either way I'm stoked for all the kids in this town.

Thanks Steve, Dannette, Crystal, Lisa, Trink, Susan and all the people that work for Santa Cruz City Parks you guys did good!