Skate Craft | Mingei International Museum

Paid parking is scheduled to begin January 5, 2026. For more information, please refer to the City of San Diego website.

Zenga Bros. "Lamp Ramp", featuring skateboarder Andy Anderson. Photography by Gordon Nicholas. Image features a skateboarder riding a metal ramp that doubles as a lamp when tilted up.
Image: Zenga Bros. "Lamp Ramp", featuring skateboarder Andy Anderson. Photography by Gordon Nicholas. Image features a skateboarder riding a metal ramp that doubles as a lamp when tilted up.
On View

Nov 21, 2026 - May 9, 2027

Location

Mingei International Museum

Curated By

Guest Curator Mayo Mendoza; Guusje Sanders

Skate Craft celebrates skateboarding's true "Do-It-Yourself" values, tracing its evolution from the early days of making decks in garages and building ramps from found lumber to the handcrafted works of art seen today.

Experience how skateboarding nurtures creativity, self-expression, and joy through artisanal craftsmanship. The progression of skateboard design, safety gear, and skate shoes, alongside the inventive machines that facilitated their creation, is driven by skaters taking it upon themselves to push boundaries.

Around the world, artists embrace this spirit by turning old skateboards into jewelry and furniture, demonstrating how skateboarding combines play, design, and sustainability in vibrant ways.

The folk art and do-it-yourself story of skateboarding hasn’t truly been told. At its core, skateboarding begins with the mind of a child — imagination, curiosity, and the impulse to make something with your hands. This exhibition celebrates skateboarding as a handmade, homegrown practice: boards shaped in garages, ramps built in backyards, and early innovations crafted from recycled lumber and old roller skates.

-Mayo Mendoza, Co-curator

Around the world, artists embrace this spirit by turning old skateboards into jewelry and furniture, demonstrating how skateboarding combines play, design, and sustainability in vibrant ways.

"It traces the evolution from these humble beginnings to design, industry, and global culture, while keeping the focus on form and function —what the object is, how it’s made, and why it matters. By highlighting the handcrafted origins of skateboarding, we invite the viewer — skater and layperson alike — to see skateboarding not just as sport or industry, but as living folk art: inventive, resourceful, and rooted in creativity," says Mendoza.

Skater Hannah Hajj. 2025. Photography by Haley Crittenden.
Unidentified Maker, California Skateboard, no date, U.S.A. Wood, metal, grip tape, pigment, and polyurethane. 30 x 9 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄4 in. Private Collection, EX036-007 – 023. Paul Schmitt (born La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1963), Nascar Skateboard, no date, U.S.A. Wood, metal, and pigment. 29 1⁄2 x 8 x 3 3⁄4 in. Private Collection, EX036-007 – 006. Unidentified Maker, Hammer Skateboard, c. 2010’s, U.S.A. Wood, metal, grip tape, pigment, and polyurethane. 31 1⁄4 x 10 1⁄4 x 4 1⁄2 in. Private Collection, EX036-007 – 013.
Stylecraft Skateboards by Jerome Calleja. Calleja at Peck Pool. Photography by Barrett Colvin.
Left to right: Tony Roderick (creator), NHS Inc. (manufacturer), Road Rider No. 6 Wheel, 1975, U.S.A. 90A Durometer TDI Urethane in steel molds. 2 5⁄8 x 2 5⁄8 x 1 15⁄16 in. Private Collection, EX036-007 – 008A‑D. Frank Nasworthy (creator), Bahne and Co. (manufacturer), Cadillac Wheels, c. 1970’s, U.S.A. Urethane. 1 1⁄2 x 1 13⁄16 x 1 13⁄16 in. Private Collection, EX036-007 – 007A‑D.
Skater Joe Pino at Washington Street Skate Park. 1999. Photography by Grant Brittain.

Slideshow Images

  1. Skater Hannah Hajj. 2025. Photography by Haley Crittenden.
  2. Unidentified Maker, California Skateboard, no date, U.S.A. Wood, metal, grip tape, pigment, and polyurethane. 30 x 9 1/2 x 4 1/4 in. Private Collection, EX036-007-023.
    Paul Schmitt (born La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1963), Nascar Skateboard, no date, U.S.A. Wood, metal, and pigment. 29 1/2 x 8 x 3 3/4 in. Private Collection, EX036-007-006.
    Unidentified Maker, Hammer Skateboard, c. 2010’s, U.S.A. Wood, metal, grip tape, pigment, and polyurethane. 31 1/4 x 10 1/4 x 4 1/2 in. Private Collection, EX036-007-013.
  3. Stylecraft Skateboards by Jerome Calleja. Calleja at Peck Pool. Photography by Barrett Colvin.
  4. Left to right: Tony Roderick (creator), NHS Inc. (manufacturer), Road Rider No. 6 Wheel, 1975, U.S.A. 90A Durometer TDI Urethane in steel molds. 2 5/8 x 2 5/8 x 1 15/16 in. Private Collection, EX036-007-008A-D.
    Frank Nasworthy (creator), Bahne and Co. (manufacturer), Cadillac Wheels, c. 1970’s, U.S.A. Urethane. 1 1/2 x 1 13/16 x 1 13/16 in. Private Collection, EX036-007-007A-D.
  5. Skater Joe Pino at Washington Street Skate Park. 1999. Photography by Grant Brittain.

Press Materials