October 6, 2009 Fringe Arts

Charity on wheels

Skateboard philanthropists hold art auction for poverty-stricken youth

by Evan Lepage

Skateboards up for auction at Smile on your Brother. PHOTO TREVOR MADER

What gets you up in the morning? Is it family? Your friends? Or do you just need your skateboard to make the day worthwhile?

Annie Lam and Mike Giles, the brains behind skateboard art showcase Smile on your Brother, are going to have to side with the latter.

The exhibition rolled into town last Friday for the second-to-last leg of a six city tour. It features 60 skateboards, each designed by a different artist, all of which are up for auction online. Profits will go towards Lam and Giles’ charity Contributor, an initiative that aims to donate 100 skateboards to underprivileged youth across Canada within the year.

“The response has been overwhelming,” Giles said of the public’s reaction to the show, and it’s not just the kids who are talking about it. Smile on your Brother has attracted more diverse age groups than some might expect, a fact Giles attributed to the classic board style every artist used as canvas.

The skateboards featured in the exhibit are much smaller and pointed than the longer, curved models commonly used today, a nostalgic reference to the early days of boarding.

“We deliberately tried to choose the old board shape,” Giles said. “I mean, that shape was first made in the ‘60s.”

The positive public response might have been surpassed by the excitement of the artists themselves. Giles explained that he, Lam and event co-curator Bob Kronbauer sat down and made a list of the artists they were all interested in having design a board. The response was immediate.

“Out of the entire list there were about three people who couldn’t do it and that was only because they were so busy with other things,” he said. “Eventually, we had people e-mailing us wanting to participate.”

This made a relatively small project much bigger than expected.

“In the beginning, we were only going to do 30 boards, then it turned to 50, and eventually we ended up with 60,” said Giles.

Skateboard designs range from two-dimensional paintings, like the work of graffiti artist Zema, to three-dimensional creations like artist Amber B. Dianda’s “Neapolitan Ice Cream Bar,” which comes complete with a long popsicle stick.

From a board with mousetraps in place of wheels to a chalkboard-board to even the intricate Alice in Wonderland tribute done by Giles himself, every skateboard is a unique piece definitely worth checking out.

Giles pointed out that it really all comes back to having the ability to positively impact disadvantaged youth.

“It’s about thinking of things that change your life for the better, and being able to share that with others,” he said.

Smile On Your Brother is on display at Off the Hook (1021a Ste-Catherine St. W.) until Oct. 9. The auction runs until Oct. 25 at wearecontributors.com. Photos of all the skateboards can be seen on the website. Bids can be made via e-mail.