As I post another call to the Land Of Plenty fundraiser this Saturday in Ventura, California (Red Brick Gallery, 315 E. Main Street, 7 to 11pm, April 11th), Mr. Jay Babcock reminds me that many Arthur readers are not familiar with the LOP Skateboard Foundation. Let me take this opportunity to give a brief history and the philosophical background of this non-profit organization.

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Skateboarding is a lot like music. It is an easily accessible art form, one that can bring pleasure and communion at the most immediate and introductory levels. By simply picking up an instrument you become a musician, and while it may take years of training and inspiration to become masterful, no one can ever say a beginner’s rudimentary noisemaking isn’t music. There is great joy in the listening to and creating of music, and in that joy can be found liberation and sense of purpose, as well as a sense of community. It’s an energetic exchange, and it takes very little to tap into the current right away.

In my younger years skateboarding and music were different sides of the same sphere: my friends were the people I hung out with skateboarding and listening to and playing music, the scenes I got involved with were based around the culture and practice of skateboarding and music, and the life philosophy I absorbed came largely through the personalities and principles of the skaters and musicians I hung around or looked up to. Punk, DIY, hip hop, zines, urban adventure, raw aggression, construction, scientific rationalism, spontaneous action, freestyle, jamming, underground organization, anarchy, self-expression, street art, fashion, sense of humor, etc.- so much of how I interacted with the world was inspired by or influenced by these dual worlds of music and skateboarding.

Music is the more obvious of the two. I don’t think I need to talk much about it, particularly to Arthurians. But skateboarding isn’t as well-understood or appreciated. It has less of a universal appeal, and back in the 80’s and 90’s it wasn’t the subject of documentaries and hott MTV shows- it was widely hated on. Fights, cops, security guards, disapproving parents and teachers. All that sort of thing, some of which has changed over the years, but much of which still remains. But the point is, skateboarding gave me something to appreciate, a deep soul groove to tap into. I was never that good at it, never did it as part of a professional path, but I loved it and followed the culture and always went skating when I needed to be with my peoples and go fast and pump blood and breathe fresh air.

Years later, in my mid-20’s, my hopeful adolescence had passed and I submerged towards a real low point. 9/11 went down, I was in an alcohol and drug induced haze, and I was socially isolating. I aspired to spiritual heights but did not have a strong enough foundation for constructive growth. As a result, I dipped into mental illness and a nihilistic path of self destruction. Once I got a proper booty-whomping and managed to realign my intentions with an elevated path, it occurred to me that my situation was not unique. I think a lot of people go kind of crazy in their 20’s, once they come to terms with certain dismal truths and are unable to discern an appropriate response. Part of my realization was that reaching out and connecting with other people was the only way out of the dark tunnel that I had entered. I was never much of a do-gooder, but I had a real moment of inspiration that came to me from somewhere else entirely. A current of energy said: start a non profit skateboard company, call it the Land Of Plenty. I didn’t have much faith in those days, but I believed in skateboarding, I believed in art, and I always felt that children deserved attention.

The business plan was to sell hand-painted skateboards rather than mass produced boards. Kids, primarily from low-income neighborhoods (but available to any who would want to participate) would get two free skateboard decks: one to keep and skate, and one to paint and return to the LOP. These painted decks, alongside ones painted and donated by professional skaters and artists, would be sold at auction to replenish funds, buy more boards, and extend the network like a matrix across the globe. I knew skaters were generous by nature- they love to share in their gifts and joys and secrets- and I knew the community would support something like this.

The name The Land Of Plenty was an ironic reference to imperialistic narcissism (and inspired by a Pixies lyric), but also a philosophical premise: skateboarding creates so much out of nothing. With a skateboard, a dismal concrete landscape becomes a welcoming palette of possibility. Destructive, anti-social adolescents become a creative community of equals. A piece of wood with wheels becomes an ephemeral canvas. A daredevil becomes an artist. And so on. It’s a mindset of true utilitarian abundance: things like curbs and handrails and empty swimming pools become focal points of incredible enjoyment and achievement. Where once was nothing, there now is something. Nowhere was this more evident than my location in Los Angeles, in California, in America, in the new millennium. This was truly a Land Of Plenty.

The LOP logo was a star in a circle. It is a familiar icon, but turned at a slight angle to suggest motion. The star has five points, the number and sign of man. The circle is the earth, the world that surrounds him. When man is surrounded by the circle, he is perfectly balanced at any angle. Skateboarding is about individuals, complete in their world, balanced in situations that are constantly changing. Change is the essence of growth. Without change, skateboarding has no relevance. A physical skateboard is made of the elements: wood, metal, water, air. The fifth element is fire- the life force of the skater that animates the object. The five elements interact and transmute and correspond to the five points of the star: breath, relaxation, balance, focus, confidence. The cycle continues, rolling forward.

A skateboard doesn’t cost that much, relative to most sporting equipment. At the same time, the wooden deck endures a lot of use and abuse, and most kids can’t afford to buy a new board every time one breaks or wears down. I came from a middle class suburb and had a job and still couldn’t afford enough skate equipment- every time I bought a board cheap from someone who was sponsored or won one in a contest or whatever, it made a huge difference. I knew that a system that could get minors a new skateboard deck every now and then could make a huge positive influence, without a lot of “do this, do that”. At the time I didn’t feel sufficiently complete to pose as a mentor, but the equal playing field of skateboarding didn’t necessitate a relationship as such. It was more about exchange and sharing. The LOP project meant to tap into existing plentitude: create art out of the ether, get the funds from people who had a little more to give, start flowing boards and there would be plenty for everyone to go around. Everyone could learn from and be inspired by everyone else, regardless of age or achievement. A skateboard is like opening a window into another world full of possibilities, and painting is like creating a flag of your independence. We wanted to open those windows and hang those colorful flags for everyone to see.

Donny Barley, a professional skater from Connecticut, signed on immediately. We got going in 2002. Donny is a close friend and a real man of the people. I can’t give him enough credit for believing in the project and lending his name and legitimacy to the program. The first few years of our existence were localized to small pockets of Los Angeles, and our external output was broadcast online: a website establishing our company and our philosophy. The Land Of Plenty .Org was where I first published articles about skateboarding as a mind body phenomenon, probing spiritual matters as a matter of physical action and creative thinking. Meanwhile Donny started up a summer skate camp for kids, and used the funds to help build skateparks on the East Coast.

By 2005, I had taken down most of the philosophical writing (which would inform the primary content of a book that I have been working on and have yet to publish, and later fragments that evolved into the Advanced Standing columns as seen here in Arthur Magazine), and focused more on the community action aspects of the organization. We had our first fundraiser at Brooklyn Projects skate shop in Los Angeles, had art donated by dozens of pro skaters and artists, alongside boards painted by kids from all over the city, and we got our first press attention and raised some modest funds.

Over the past four years we’ve had numerous art show fundraisers, and have sponsored board painting events and clubs around the world. Cities with LOP programs so far include: Los Angeles, Atwater, Burbank, Pasadena, Santa Ana, Fillmore, Portland, Kansas City, Fort Collins, San Carlos, White River, San Diego, Groton, and others. We’ve gotten skateboards out to over 500 kids. We’ve had dozens of volunteers who have donated hundreds of hours of their time to get the boards out and to organize times and places to get them painted. We’ve gotten donations from Girl/Chocolate skateboards, and our own boards from Generator Distribution. Our international outreach program has started, and we’ve sent complete hand-painted skateboards (and gotten decks painted and sent back in return) from Jamaica, and are working on similar projects in Haiti, Mexico, Japan, and Pakistan. We work closely with Apache Skateboards to get decks to Native American skaters in the South West, and support the yearly Apache Skate Blast in San Carlos. We created a Career Day event to bring Art Students in contact with professional designers in the Skateboard Industry. We sponsor local events, contests, skatepark openings, and art shows. Our goals are to greatly expand our network of skateboard distribution, create limited edition merchandise to generate revenue, apply for private and government grants, and to secure a location in LA where we can build a skateboard facility and create a safe space for kids to skate with pros, learn art and computer skills, and get to participate in the foundation.

We have a team of two pro skaters (Donny Barley and Kenny Hughes), three amateur skaters who have been on the team for several years (Aryeh Kraus, Osmaan Shamsiddeen, and Douglas Miles Jr.), and a group of skaters on flow who represent the Land Of Plenty interns. We’ve got a website up with a blog, a filmmaking division, a collection of hand painted skateboards at our office in the Brewery in Downtown LA, and are fiscally sponsored by Heidi Lemmon’s Skatepark Association International. Through Heidi we have developed a strong relationship with the Venice CDS, a high school for skateboarders, where I teach art class and the students skate every day and participate in various art programs.

The whole thing has been pretty amazing. There has been an ongoing abundance of donations, volunteer work, and the spirit of skateboarding. Our sphere of influence continues to expand, and we always try maintain the ethic that was so special to us in the first place. It’s a simple thing: to skate, to paint, to play an instrument. No one tells you what to do, yet your friends will always encourage you to keep trying, to keep getting up when you fall down, to share in accomplishment and release. When you proceed in a way that resonates with something higher, that allows you to be of service to someone other than yourself, it really does open up a channel of energy that goes upwards, one that might otherwise pull in a negative direction. I feel blessed to have been able to participate in the LOP all these years, and I’ve been able to watch it grow like a garden.

Come help us cultivate the garden. Donate gear, art, money, time, or good thoughts. We are all visitors here, all guests. We are not the source, merely the channels.

Buenaventura: Land Of Plenty Spring 2009 art show and fundraiser is going down Saturday, April 11th at the Red Brick Gallery, 315 E. Main Street in downtown Ventura, CA, from 7pm to 11pm.

We will also be having an open house at the Brewery Artwalk (642 Moulton Ave. W-1, LA, CA 90031) on Saturday and Sunday April 18th and 19th. At both of these events we will be selling donated artwork and products to help raise funds for our summer programming and international board exchange programs.

Thanks for checking us out.