Build it and Ride it: How Skateboards Began

Todd Huber, skateboard historian and founder of the International Skateboarding Hall of Fame, will present a brief look into the handspun origins of one of the world’s most popular sports. From metal wheels and 2 by 4’s, stolen roller skates, and a plethora of makeshift materials and construction approaches, skateboards are rooted in the DIY, from how they are made and built, to a total outlook, philosophy, and culture. This talk will explore how sidewalk surfing and American ingenuity went from garages to the Olympics.

Huber is the Founder and CEO of the International Skateboarding Hall of Fame and a lifelong advocate for skateboarding culture. In 1997, he opened the world’s first Skateboarding Museum in Simi Valley, California, preserving the sport’s history and honoring its pioneers. Through the creation of the annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Huber has built one of skateboarding’s most respected institutions, attracting thousands of fans and industry legends from around the world. His leadership continues to elevate and celebrate the legacy of skateboarding globally.

If you would like to attend in person, please send an email to rsvp@craftinamerica.org.

To attend online, please register.

Skateboarding the Canyons, Plains, and Asphalt-banked Schoolyards of Coastal Los Angeles in the 1970s

Pioneering skateboarders reacted to newly created subdivisions throughout Southern California in the 1960s and 70s. In their pursuit of new surfaces upon which to express bodily movement, they exploited a capital-intensive urban landscape to create a sport that today has tremendous economic, political, and cultural implications. This talk will focus on archival material drawn from Skateboarder Magazine from 1975 to 1980 to help situate the ways in which skateboards sought out particular urban spaces and responded to them in particular kinetic ways. The skateboarders and those who documented their emerging sport through photography and writing, expressed deep awareness and understanding of urban space. Topography and new suburban morphologies influenced their understanding of, and reaction to these spaces. The asphalt-banked schoolyards of Los Angeles in particular provided an unintended playground for skateboarders and served as a starting point for the modern-era of the sport.

Lorne Platt focuses on urban history, city planning, and cultural geography. Over the last few years, he has examined skateboarding and suburban development, alongside other forms of alternative movement and micro-mobility (including scooters and e-bikes). Another area of interest is the transformation of semi-natural landscapes into cultural/human spaces, including golf courses, university campuses, and sports stadiums. Lorne holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and is currently a Lecturer in Urban Planning at UC Irvine and Geography at UCLA.

If you would like to attend in person, please send an email to rsvp@craftinamerica.org.

To attend online, please register.

Images courtesy of Hugh Holland (M and B Photo)

Blacksmith to Hollywood, Tony Swatton Studio Tour

Master Blacksmith Tony Swatton is a self-educated blacksmith who started making his own armor at the age of 17. Nine years later, he opened his first shop, where he made products for Euro Disney and Michael Jackson. He did his first film work for Hook in 1991. In over 30 years he has forged pieces for over 300 feature films and some of the largest franchises on the planet. His work can be seen in many films and TV shows, including Pirates of the Caribbean,Thor, Star Trek, Batman, Hellboy, The Last Samurai, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The tour will begin with a forging demonstration by special guest silversmith, Randy Stromsoe.

Tony will guide visitors through his showroom area of many famed props for movies and TV, and then demonstrate his specialties in his vast metalworking facility.

$20 fee for tour

By attending this studio tour, participants agree to hereby release and discharge Craft in America and Tony Swatton from any and all liability, claims, demands, or causes of action for injuries or damages arising out of participation in the studio tour.

Randy Stromsoe: Silver Stories & Restoration Roadshow

For over five decades, Randy Stromsoe has been crafting one-of-a-kind pieces in sterling silver, pewter, copper, gold, and wood.

Trained under renowned silversmith Porter Blanchard, Randy began his career working on prestigious commissions, including custom gold trophies and ceremonial pieces. His craftsmanship has sinceearned a place in the White House Collection of American Crafts, the Smithsonian Institution, and private collections around the world.

Randy will share about his experience of “baptism by fire” in the business and practice of working in silver and pewter in the 70s, when he was first emerging from his apprenticeship, as well as stories of working with Blanchard in his studio. In addition to talking about the legacy of silversmithing in California, Randy will open up for an Antiques Roadshow-style show and tell, in which the audience is invited to bring their own purchased or inherited silver pieces for Randy to explore and explain. He will discuss fabrication, form, history, and restoration, as applicable. 

This will be the first of two consecutive days to learn about Randy’s process. The following day, Sunday Mar. 1, he will make a cameo appearance demonstration during the tour at Tony Swatton’s studio.

If you would like to attend, please send an email to rsvp@craftinamerica.org.

Online Tool Talk #2

Tools of the Trades artists James Austin, Seth Gould, and Thomas Latané will present on their practices as blacksmiths, sharing about how their toolmaking dovetails with their studio practice and how they continue and build upon historical traditions. Craft in America Curator and Director Emily Zaiden will then moderate a panel discussion on the contemporary practice of toolmaking in this age of increasing digital technology.

Please register to join the webinar.

Online Tool Talk #1

Tools of the Trades artists Brien Beidler, Spencer Hamann, and William Robertson will present on their individual practices of book binder, luthier and tool historian/miniaturist respectively, sharing about how their toolmaking dovetails with their current studio practice and how they continue and build upon historical traditions. Craft in America Curator and Director Emily Zaiden will then lead a panel discussion on contemporary practice of toolmaking in this age of increasing digital technology.

Please register to join the online talk

Blacksmith Heather McLarty Studio Tour & Demo

Blacksmith Heather McLarty shares the wonderland art compound in her sprawling backyard in Highland Park. Complete with a Tipi full of tools, the majority of which are hand made. McLarty will do a demo using a few of them so everyone can see them in action and understand their function.

McLarty’s husband, Troy Evans, will take visitors up a steep flight of stairs to his studio in the historic Sousa Nook, where he has industrial sewing machines that are around 100 years old, plus other sewing and leather working tools. (Named for John Phillip Sousa, who played there!) 

By attending this studio tour, participants agree to hereby release and discharge Craft in America and Heather McLarty from any and all liability, claims, demands, or causes of action for injuries or damages arising out of participation in the studio tour.

$20 fee for tour.

The tour has reached capacity. Please email rsvp@craftinamerica.org to be placed on a waiting list.

Drop-in Metal Arts Demo and Tools Q&A with Blacksmith Heather McLarty

Blacksmith and Tools of the Trades curatorial consultant, Heather McLarty, will set up a mini studio in the Center and work on chasing and repousse between 1:00 and 4:00pm. Viewers will have a firsthand experience of seeing how she uses a chasing hammer with a distinct set of shaped tools to form a relief into metal. Heather will also be happy to answer questions about other metal working tools in the exhibition; she is a font of knowledge given her years of experience. Stop by to learn about the process and tools, and view the show with a metal arts expert around. 

Max Grossman Studio Tour

Are you curious about vintage tools and metal processes? Max Grossman, self-described glassblower, toolmaker, and garbageman has a passion for collecting and maintaining vintage tools and machinery. In his West Adams industrial studio, every machine you will see is at least 100 years old, with some being even older at 140! The studio includes but is not limited to: Hendey lathe, radial and camelback drills, planer and shaper, full blacksmith shop with power hammers, iron foundry, including a sand muller made from scratch—all for the intent of making tools for glassblowers. This will be an illuminating look into early metal working machinery and processes, plus Grossman’s own creative use of the devices. $20 fee for tour.

The tour has filled and was so popular we are considering a reprise. Please email rsvp@craftinamerica.org for the potential of being included in a repeat tour.

By attending this studio tour, participants agree to hereby release and discharge Craft in America and Max Grossman from any and all liability, claims, demands, or causes of action for injuries or damages arising out of participation in the studio tour.

Artist Talk: Boris Huang

Boris Huang shares about his initiation with the ancient craft of featherwork and his contemporary interpretations. Huang moved to Hawaii from his native Taiwan and came to fall in love with the tradition of Hawaiian featherwork: so much so he apprenticed with one of its contemporary masters, Mary Louise Kaleonahenahe Kekuewa.

This talk is presented in conjunction with the Craft in America Center exhibition, Feather Adornments: Boris Huang, on view January 18 through April 26, 2025.

<!– wp:paragraph –>

<p>,,,,,</p>

<!– /wp:paragraph –>