Inspiration - David Hale

Some nice multi-deck pieces (older work) from David Hale.

Confirmed Artists

Here is a list of artists who have confirmed participation.
Stay tuned for possible additions.

Keith Allen, Matt Angorn, Paul Armstrong, Kathy Bakalarz, Aaron Brudvig, Mike Burnett, Kevin Carr, Richard S. Cihlar, Jeffrey Conrad, Keith Corcoran, Kelley Corcoran,
Shawn Craig, Eliza Devogel
Diane Dragus-Zets, Geoffrey Erdos, Kathi Fay, Erik Flesher, Mackenzie Glass, James Groman, Emily Gross,
Mark Harvey, Masa Homma, Sara Hoover, David Houry, Chris Hsu, Jeff Hulligan, Julia Kuo, Alison Kurzeja, Seth Larson, Esther Loopstra, David Mariampolski, Donna McGreal, Claire Mojher, Larry Mosca, April Nemeth, Tom Page, Kim Patrizi, Bob Peck, Chris Ryniak, Dave Savage, Anthony Scalmatto, Kelle Schwab, Dimitri Simakis, Dave Skwarczek, Randal Slaughter, Mark Spangler, Amanda Spayd, Tommy Spero : Soul NYC, Jenean Sustarsic, Carlos Villagra, Aaron Wildasin, Chuck Wimmer, Eric Wright, Derek Yoder

The story so far...

So the background here is that originally I was kicking around the idea of a group skate deck show in the gallery. I spoke to a couple of people at work and on the gallery committee about what would be involved in setting up a group show. Since I've only had one show myself, I'm pretty new to the whole thing.

I guess the enthusiasm I displayed in my discussions (or miscommunication on my part) gave the impression I was ready to roll with this because about 4 days ago I received an email saying I was scheduled for a show on Jan 19th. Awesome!

Only problems... I didn't know where to get decks. I didn't know who would participate (besides myself) and I had no real plan. That said, here's a rundown of how it went.

• Wed 12/17 - Got the email. Stressing begins.
• Wed Night - Called, emailed, myspace messaged and ebay hunted just about every skate shop and deck manufacturer I could find online to obtain blank decks as cheap as possible without getting killed on shipping. If I couldn't get decks, it didn't matter who would participate unless I planned on making the decks myself.
• Late Wed night - My new best friend Jim over at Tri Star Skateboard in Parma, OH says he could hook me up with about 40 blank decks at a good price. Nice. Half way there.
• Thus 12/18 - I get to work and get right to work. I started networking. First hitting up the artists I thought would be excited about the show even given the quick turnaround and had each of them spread the word. I collected the money for the decks and that night picked up 20 blank decks from Tri Star.
• Fri 12/19 - Word spreads fast. I hand out all 20 decks before 10 and by 1pm I had another 20+ decks to pick up for people wanting in on the show. At 2pm I make a quick run to the shop and pick up the last 20 budget decks he has only to find out I'm still 5 short! :(
• Fri Night - After more calling, emailing and surfing I come up empty handed. The only blank decks to be had locally cost $5 more then the last ones because they're higher quality. For skating better is better but for what we're doing, not so much. 

And that's pretty much where I stand today. I'm still about 5 decks short and still don't have any for myself.

Two options (plus one)

1. Order some blanks off ebay. With shipping I can get 20 blanks @ about $12 each but after repeated emailing I still haven't gotten any response from the seller. Not entirely confident about getting them before the end of the year but it 'could' happen.
2. Explain the situation to the artists who've paid but are without boards and see if they'd like to pay the extra $5 to ensure they have a deck before Christmas or take the chance on the ebay option.
3. Return the money the artists who've paid and close the participation window. I call this the 'plus one' option because I really don't want to do this. So it's not really an option.

And there you have it... the story so far. 

ALL HANDS ON DECKS

ALL HANDS ON DECKS is the first custom skate deck group gallery show being presented at the American Greetings World Headquarters Creative Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio. The show will run for 2 weeks from January 19 - January 30 and is not open to the public unless accompanied by an American Greetings employee.

Participants include over 40 artists from American Greetings as well a handful of guest artists. While there is no overall subject matter theme to the show, the common thread is the use of a blank skate deck as a substrate for the artwork.

With the wide range of artistic talents on staff at American Greetings this should prove to be an interesting show. The ultimate goal was to bring the company's artistic talent together in an unconventional way while fostering a sense of comraderie among the artists.

Artwork will be displayed horizontally, vertically or 3d format provided it is safe to display and adheres to the gallery guidelines.

Pieces will be available for sale at the artists discretion with the possiblility of some pieces being available through a specially created ebay store.

The show is being curated by Keith Corcoran, Art Director with American Greetings Interactive.

More news, information and posts from the participants will be presented here as available. Follow this blog for updates.