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Gallery features skateboard art

Alternative art show SO BOARD opens Oct. 12 at Saint-Germain Café and Gallery in Penticton
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Alternative art show SO BOARD opens Oct. 12 at Saint-Germain Café and Gallery, featuring skateboards as canvases for 17 local artists.

SO BOARD invites viewers to look beyond the idyllic landscapes typical of the Okanagan and into a world of quirky, lesser-known creative works of local artists. The art exhibition features repurposed skateboard decks as art canvases.

“I have a great respect for skateboard art,” said Saint-Germain owner Christopher Millin in a press release. “In my youth, I chose decks based on the artwork.”

Upon taking ownership of the café and gallery three years ago, Millin was determined to showcase skateboard art.

“With a break between two major solo shows, this was an ideal time.”

Half of the used skateboard decks were supplied by Millin with the rest donated by the artists.

“We had 17 artists eager to participate,” said Millin. “We put the call out on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The response was overwhelming.”

More than 20 skateboard decks will be displayed on the same walls that regularly feature formally trained artists, some with decks in this show. A local writer is participating with 100 per cent of the sales of her deck going to the BC SPCA.

“We have a vibrant community of artists moving to advance art appreciation beyond the expected,” said Millin. “Saint-Germain will always give a home to this movement.”

SO Board opens Oct. 12 with a reception at Saint-Germain Café and Gallery from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and après music is from Edmonton-based musical project Wares (admission is pay what you can). SO BOARD runs until Nov. 11.