Wallride: Skate Exhibition
Featuring 40 local artists
June 12-July 24
Reception: Friday, June 19, 5-10 PM
SKATEBOARDING AND ART have always evolved side by side. From deck graphics and zines to murals and illustration, skate culture has long been shaped by artists pushing visual boundaries.
Skateboarding itself is also an art form. Like dance or music, it is shaped by rhythm, movement, and personal style. Each skater approaches the same space differently-finding new lines, reimagining architecture, and turning everyday streets, curbs, and stair sets into opportunities for expression.
Wall Ride invites artists to use skateboard decks as their canvas, celebrating the shared spirit of experimentation, individuality, as well as community that connects skateboarding and the arts.
A R T I S T S
Angie Hanson
Vince Rush
Kyrianna
Kylie Swenson
Alexis Mixter
Melissa Ghiglieri
Opie Snow
Micah Blacklight
Alexa Brooke
Vanessa Jo Bahr
Jerryck Murrey
Art Martinez
Caroline Wasick
Amy joy Snyder
Erik Able
Jarrett Davidson
Rhino
Jon Davis
Jason Bell-Bechtol
Adrian Chavez
Janice Moon
Jordan McCaw
Mera Oliveria
Ryan Moon
Michele Allen Fulkerson
Salmon Rowe
Kelsey Bell-Bechtol
Cat Atom
Ben Lawrence
Ophelia Sutter
Max Malcomb
Gabriel Barrera
Yasmine Pond
Elyssa Ebert
Jon Alim
Biru
Silas Moon
Rachel Rask
Adam Quackenbush
Paul Messenger
Glitch bun
Johnny Smith
Chasda Clendinen-Watkins
Christopher Storm
Connor Searles
Arturo Mendez
Brandon Rands
Bògòlanfini & Ceramics by
Baba Wagué Diakité
April 24-June 5
Reception: Friday, May 15, 5-8PM
Baba Wagué Diakité (Portland) is a traditional storyteller and mud cloth maker who grew up in Mali with his grandparents. They recounted fantastical tales of animals and nature that instilled in him a deep love for the oral tradition. Diakité’s mother was also a storyteller and taught her son to make traditional mud-cloth, a Malian practice of dying cotton with fermented mud.
Artist Bio
Baba Wagué Diakité was born in Bamako, Mali, in West Africa. As a small child he lived with his grandmother in her rural village, spending his days working alongside her in her peanut and rice fields and tending sheep with his uncle. During those first formative years, Diakité’s grandmother told him magical stories of animals and nature, instilling in him a deep love and appreciation for his culture’s oral tradition. When he started his formal school education, he moved back to Bamako to live with his mother, who shared more Malian stories with him. Diakité says that “storytelling is the jumpstart of writing,” and indeed, this has been very true for him. Scholastic Press published three of his children’s books based on his Malian traditional tales, and Groundwood Books printed two more centered on his stories and memories of growing up in Mali. Diakité’s commitment to storytelling is evident in everything that he does. Every week he works at IRCO’s Africa House where he encourages young people to use their stories to maintain their identities. Diakité and his wife open their Portland home each Saturday for African tea and dialogue, creating a space for connection amongst community members. In addition to storytelling, Diakité preserves his cultural heritage with the creation of mud-cloths, a tradition his mother taught him. Mud-cloth is traditionally used in ritual practices such as women’s initiation ceremonies and childbirth, as well as as hunting camouflage; today, the cloth has come to symbolize Malian identity.
In Collaboration with our sponsor:
BASE Oregon
Roots, Rhythm, and Revolution
January 16 – February 27
Reception: Friday, February 20, 5–8pm
Come experience a multi-sensory installation titled “The Soundtrack of Black Resistance.”
Inspired by the connection between music and movements in Black history. Bases’ youth
will explore the songs, rhythms, and lyrics that shaped generations of protest, joy, healing,
and hope
Learn more about BASE Oregon
Thank you to our exhibition sponsor!
