Aiding Kids’ Creativity Through Skateboarding [INTERVIEW, VIDEO, PHOTOS]

Skateboarding is not a crime. This much we know. When I was growing up we  had to put this on shirts and bumper stickers to remind 'the Man'. How things change, and how good that change feels.

There are about 13 million skateboarders in the United States, millions more worldwide and in the past decade a few very positive things have happened.

1. Skate parks have been created all over the country. When I was growing up we used to get chased off loading docks because there was nowhere that had smooth concrete ramps with dropoffs like that.
2. Skate parks have been created by skateboarders. This is key. In the 80's and 90's some Parks and Rec departments started dropping ramps and half pipes on old tennis courts and it was like, 'Yeah, this is better, but...' Want something that skates clean? Have a skater who works in concrete or CAD build it.

So with the advent of the support of skateboarding, Andrew Weiss is in the early days of an organization that takes this a step further. He's starting the Launch Creative Center which will...

...preserve and promote a culture of creativity through skateboarding. This facility will house a communal mini ramp, a skateboard museum complete with over sixty years of skateboarding history, a library of art books, skate mags, and videos, and a workshop space for teaching ramp building, custom deck design,  grip tape art, etc., and for hosting guest artists and speakers from the art and skateboarding industry.

Here is the website with more information. You can donate there. Check out this interview with Andy as he tells us more about Launch.

In many ways, skateboarding is creativity. The person on the deck first must create a trick, a move, or a loop in their head, and then execute it. The pavement doesn't change, the steep slopes are static. What makes skating so exciting is that it is an individual pursuit with no rules, boundaries, or expectations. There are no points or trophies, just the feeling of landing on the board...or not landing on the board...which is sometimes painful.

By the way, Fort Collins is home to some sick skaters! Everytime I go to the park there is someone there that just blows me away.

Skate and create, my friends. Do you support skateboarding?