Visit Ventura Partners with Local Artists and Students to Highlight Community Spirit with Bold, Colorful Installations
For Immediate Release:
Ventura, Calif. (June 20, 2024) – Visit Ventura is proud to partner with six local artists and Buena High School students on a variety of projects, placing community art at the forefront of this year’s X Games celebration.
The fingerprint of local art can be found all across Downtown Ventura in bold, bright, and bubbly colors. Inspired by X Games’s January announcement that Salema Masekela was appointed as the brand’s first-ever Chief of Sports Culture, Visit Ventura leaned into the intersection of action sports, culture, and arts.
“Including art was a priority for us as we looked for creative ways to get the community even more involved this year. With more time to plan, our team leaned into our local talent right here at home,” said Marlyss Auster, President & CEO of Visit Ventura. “We are excited to partner with six local artists and high school students to create fun and creative pieces to celebrate the games and even more stoked to have these art pieces onsite at X Games Ventura where thousands of fans will get to enjoy them and these talented local artists and students will get exposure on a worldwide platform!”
In collaboration with Visit Ventura, six local artists designed and painted skateboard decks, paying homage to Ventura’s rich skateboarding history, X Games Ventura 2024, and iconic Ventura landmarks.
The skateboards will be displayed in SONIC Club 95 where fans can see the skateboards in person, meet the artists behind the decks, and enter for a chance to win one of the skateboards. Read more about the artists and the painted decks.
Fans can take photos in four X Games shadow boxes, three of the four painted by artists Andrew Rodriguez, Claudia Pardo, and Grant Ensminger; the final shadow box was photo-wrapped by Visit Ventura. The four shadowboxes were built by LeStrange Woodwork + Millwork, a local custom woodwork business. Incorporating skateboarding elements alongside Ventura’s culture, the shadow boxes are located across Downtown Ventura along Main Street, at the Ventura Promenade, and at Main and Santa Clara Streets.
“Art serves as a powerful means to communicate the traditions and values of a community, and being part of the creative vision for a marketing campaign of this scale was invigorating,” said Claudia Pardo, one of the artists who painted a deck and shadow box. “I had creative freedom to capture the spirit of Ventura within the atmosphere of the X Games — I was inspired by the inherent strength, grit, and discipline of action sports, especially of the young rising athletes. I’m delighted to see that the partnership between X Games and Ventura incorporated the creative contribution of local artists. A sustainable market of support for local artists is essential for the social and cultural well-being of our community.”
The four shadow boxes will also be displayed onsite at the X Games venue during the competition weekend.
Local high school students from Buena High School will also have a legacy at X Games Ventura 2024. A skate ramp was designed, built, and painted by local high school students for the Ventura Skate Jam, a free all-ages community event to celebrate X Games Ventura on Thursday, June 27.
The ramp, commissioned by Visit Ventura and designed by Buena High School teacher Scott Manninen’s Cabinet Millwork Technologies Capstone class and painted by Buena art students —with art teacher Nicole Rapattoni overseeing— will also be displayed onsite at the X Games. It will later be displayed as public art in its sailboat form.
“I grew up skating; it’s super cool to be a part of something where beginners and insane skaters will use our ramp,” said Mason Carter, an essential student in the project who designed the quarter pipe curve. “It gives me chills to think that a pro may skate something I helped build.”
“People that I grew up watching, like Thrasher, Wheels on Fire and Streets on Fire, all of these skater movies, and Jason Jesse. It is really cool to contribute something to this event,” said Angel Pineda, “It’s really cool to work on something that’s going to be displayed at the X Games. When I was little, I watched them, which got me into skating. So, I’m really happy I’m able to participate in this. We have been making small projects over the years in school, and now, in my senior year, to be able to make something that everyone’s going to be able to see is pretty incredible.”
Other local businesses that can be found onsite at X Games Ventura include Salt Ranch, Rocket Fizz, Spencer Makenzie’s, Surf Rodeo, San Buenaventura State Beach, Ventura Harbor Village, and Portside Ventura Harbor, among others.
Valerie Ryan, Vice President Fan Experience & Hospitality, expressed excitement about the integration of local artists into the X Games venues and downtown Ventura, highlighting it as a “fantastic blend of the community with the event. We can’t wait for fans to experience these creations throughout the X Games venue.”
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