Skate-Art-Music Fest puts the fun back into fundraising

Deb and Matt Housh, shown here with their son, Tyson, helped to organize this weekend’s fundraiser at the Yellow Springs skate park. The event, which is cosponsored by the Human Relations Commission and the Yellow Springs Arts Council, will include live music and art, such as the panels pictured here created by the Teen Art Group (TAG).

By Tara Miller

There will be something for everyone at the Skate-Art-Music Fest that will take place Saturday, Aug. 4, 6–9 p.m., at the skate park behind the Bryan Community Center, according to Matt and Deb Housh, organizers for the event, which will raise funds for the skate park and the Yellow Springs Arts Council.

Four bands, each with local ties, will perform, including Matt Housh’s band, Temples in Asia, and an art and t-shirt sale by the newly formed Yellow Springs Teen Art Group (TAG) will be held. There will also be skate demos, skate giveaways, food vendors, skate vendors and talks by members of the Yellow Springs Arts Council and Yellow Springs Human Relations Commission, cosponsors of the event.

The event is also an art opening for the stencil graffiti panels painted by TAG in a workshop held earlier in the summer. And two skateboard decks, jointly painted by TAG members mentored with adult artists, will be raffled off.

“Everyone involved is volunteering their time,” said Deb Housh, “with all the money going back into the community.”

In a press release written by Deb Housh, TAG, an affiliate of the Yellow Springs Arts Council, is defined as a group of teenagers who like to make stuff, organize art-related activities and hang out together. TAG’s mission is two-fold, according to Housh: first, to give teenage artists the opportunity to express themselves through the visual arts in the community and, second, to bring local teenage and adult artists together.

“My goal as a mentor is to involve the kids and help them take more responsibility, take ownership,” she said. As this process evolves, Housh will pull back, allowing the kids to take on most of the responsibility for the group and its activities.

“My experience in secondary education showed me kids want to take the responsibility. They have good ideas. Once kids become committed to something, they can be creative and hold positions of responsibility, and a result is they become more disciplined,” she said. Her background includes work as a museum educator at the Art Institute of Chicago and as an art teacher at the elementary and secondary levels in Columbus, Chicago and Denver.

The Skate-Art-Music Fest is TAG’s third summer event. The first was an art display and t-shirt sale at YS Kid’s Playhouse’s July 3 Summer Fest Block Party, and the second was an anime drawing and painting exhibit at a YSKP Volksgarten event preceding Around the World in 80 Days.

Housh believes TAG is a benefit to the community and to the schools. One of TAG’s goals is to create a cycle of sharing artistic skills and passion within the community because, she believes, the federal “No Child Left Behind” program, with its emphasis on standardized tests, has caused many schools to drop arts education. Community organizations could step up to supplement and support school programs, she believes.

Matt Housh agrees. A secondary school administrator, he believes it is always the goal of a school to get help from its community members. Teachers and administrators can’t be experts in all areas and hands-on expertise from community members is needed in this day and age.

“Schools can’t do it all on their own anymore,” he said.

An example of the type of mentoring/apprenticeship she hopes will evolve with TAG members and community artists, as well as in the schools, took place during the painting of the skateboard decks. Usually, decks are purchased pre-painted, but Deb Housh and local muralist Pierre Nagley teamed up with two TAG members — Nagley with Max Fleischman, 16, and Housh with Cholë Weinter, 15, — and painted two decks to raffle during the fest.

“This ties the themes of skating and art together,” she said.

The benefit is also an opportunity for area skaters to show off their skills as well as have a workshop in repairing the park’s ramps and beams; a few of the repairs have already been completed by skaters. Crucial to the restoration work is Yellow Springs Police Chief John Grote, who has previously held repair sessions and has been an advocate for the kids. His mentoring has opened the door for skaters to take responsibility for their park as well as serving as a prime example of how the mentoring aspect can function, the couple believes.

Matt Housh is a skater and may demonstrate some of his skills during the fest if he isn’t too busy carrying things, performing with his band, and taking care of their 3-year-old son, Tyson.

The Housh’s have lived in Yellow Springs for about a year and knew right away that they wanted to get involved in the community. A writer and painter, Deb Housh joined the Arts Council not long after moving here. She saw a need for intergenerational activities after attending a community forum this spring which focused on the difficulties between local teens and adults, the senior project of Niquelle Orr and Carly Bailey.

Another inspiration for the benefit was an April article in the News that focused on the need for funding and help to make skate park repairs. The couple decided to do a benefit but proceeded cautiously, asking for help.

Saturday evening there will be a sheet for interested teens to sign-up for TAG information. Signing up is not a commitment, but will give teens a calendar of events so they can see what’s coming up and decide how much they want to participate.

“We have a dependable core group,” Deb Housh said, “who are becoming leaders and I can take a step back as advisor/director. I can help with the organization and with their ideas — and they have good ideas. If you respect them, they’ll respect you.”

Anyone interested in making a donation can contact Deb Housh via e-mail at art@ysartscouncil.org or by mail to YSAC, P.O. Box 459, Yellow Springs, OH 45387.

*The writer is a freelance writer and photographer for the News.