Skateable Bowl Breaks Boundaries, Sets Stage for Community Art Experiences

10.28.21
Yale Schwarzman Center
Skate bowl ribbon-cutting at the Open Source 2021 festival
Skate bowl ribbon-cutting at the Open Source 2021 festival, photo by Maurice L. Harris.

Fresh from its Olympic debut, skateboarding has emerged from the underground, revealing a vibrant and inclusive community that celebrates individual creativity as a rallying cry for the entire collective. Finding a Line New Haven unveiled a new moveable skate bowl at 25 George Street to serve not only as an open-sourced living sculpture but also a hub for skateboarding, arts, and civic engagement.

Bringing the critically acclaimed Finding a Line: Skateboarding, Hip-Hop and Community initiative to New Haven has been the dream of local community organizers and skateboard aficionados J. Joseph YC’19 and Steve Roberts. “Finding a Line New Haven is part of a broader initiative that started in the DC area that brought skateboarding and the arts together in a collaborative and improvisational way,” said Joseph of Finding a Line New Haven. As a collaboration between Yale Schwarzman Center, City of New Haven, and Artspace, that dream is becoming a reality.

Finding a Line New Haven is part of a broader initiative that started in the DC area that brought skateboarding and the arts together in a collaborative and improvisational way.
J. Joseph YC '19

The brainchild of skater, artist, educator, and activist Ben Ashworth, MacArthur award-winning jazz pianist and skater Jason Moran, and former Kennedy Center Vice President for Community Engagement (now Yale Schwarzman Center Executive Director) Garth Ross, Finding a Line launched in 2012 to break disciplinary boundaries and spur improvisation among skaters, musicians and audiences while celebrating the intersectionality and diversity in hip-hop and skateboarding sub-cultures. The name refers to both the act of finding a line through a physical space with a skateboard and finding connections between individuals. The initiative was designed to be welcoming to all types of skaters, particularly those from marginalized communities. Finding a Line gained national acclaim following expositions at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and The Ford in Los Angeles.

“There is a fluid connection between skateboarding and Black culture,” said Roberts, director of New Haven’s Push to Start Skate Program. “For example, there are a lot of similarities between the collaborative and improvisational nature of skateboarding and hip hop. Skateboarding sessions operate like hip hop cyphers. You get support but also a little competition. When Black and Brown faces can see themselves as art in motion, there’s a greater sense of belonging.”

There is a fluid connection between skateboarding and Black culture. For example, there are a lot of similarities between the collaborative and improvisational nature of skateboarding and hip hop.
Steve Roberts

Dr. Neftalie Williams, Yale Schwarzman Center Visiting Fellow in Race, Culture & Community and U.S. Sports Envoy for Skateboarding, rose to prominence by using skateboarding as a tool to engage and unite youth in Cambodia, Cuba, South Africa, Brazil and young Syrian asylum seekers settlement in the Netherlands. Also, a post-doctoral fellow at USC, Williams' PhD critically examined the history and experiences of U.S. skaters of color from the 1960s to the present. "Skateboarding was the first activity I witnessed that drew together young people from all walks of life—across racial, gender, and socio-economic background."

In July 2021 Finding a Line New Haven unveiled Scantlebury Skate Park in the Dixwell neighborhood as part of the initiative’s commitment to cultivate collaborations that inspire social change. Numerous community partners rose to the occasion, including Push to Start, New Haven Innovation Collaborative, the City of New Haven, the Yale Undergraduate Skateboarding Union and the Yale Schwarzman Center. The unveiling of the structure on George Street extends and is part of Open Source 2021 Festival, a yearly showcase of New Haven’s eclectic mix of visual artists. Visitors will be able to learn how to skate and enjoy the new structure during the next 10 months.

Williams hopes the new skateable bowl not only helps break boundaries and unite people but also showcases how skateboarding is a living, breathing art. "It's a beautiful sight to see skaters of color and non-skaters of color coming together, bonding, feeding off the music, the energy of the crowd, and demonstrating skateboarding as an open improvisational form similar to jazz and hip-hop. Finding a Line New Haven captivates because skateboarding is the catalyst to engage people across their differences--blurring the lines between art and sport, performers and audiences, the academy and the community." 

Finding a Line New Haven captivates because skateboarding is the catalyst to engage people across their differences--blurring the lines between art and sport, performers and audiences, the academy and the community.
Neftalie Williams, PhD

Slide Show: Dr. Williams Visits Two New Haven Skate Parks

On 16 October 2021, the day after the celebrated opening of the skate bowl at the Open Source 2021 Festival, Neftalie Williams, PhD, Yale Schwarzman Center’s visiting fellow in race, culture, and community, made appearances at the skate park located in New Haven’s Scantlebury Park and Edgewood Skate Park. Joined by Finding a Line New Haven’s J. Joseph YC ’19 and Steve Roberts, Williams offered one-on-one coaching to young skaters, many of whom were members of Roberts’s Push to Start skate program, and spoke with parents about the positive effects of skateboarding revealed in his research.

  • Dr. Neftalie Williams coaches a young skater
    Dr. Neftalie Williams coaches a young skater. Photo by Herve Locus.
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  • Dr. Neftalie Williams coaches a young skater
    Dr. Neftalie Williams coaches a young skater. Photo by Herve Locus.
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  • Steve T. Roberts coaches a young skater
    Steve T. Roberts coaches a young skater. Photo by Herve Locus.
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  • A mom puts a helmet on her child before he goes skateboarding.
    A mom puts a helmet on her child before he embarks on a skateboard coaching session. Photo by Herve Locus.
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  • A dad cheers his son on as he demonstrates a skateboarding technique
    A dad cheers his son on as he demonstrates a skateboarding technique he has just learned. Photo by Herve Locus.
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  • A dad photographs his son with Dr. Neftalie Williams
    A dad photographs his son with Dr. Neftalie Williams. Photo by Herve Locus.
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  • A young skateboarder demonstrates his skills
    A young skateboarder demonstrates his skills. Photo by Herve Locus.
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  • J. Joseph and Dr. Neftalie Williams chat while a young skateboarder watches on
    J. Joseph and Dr. Neftalie Williams chat while a young skateboarder waits for a coaching session. Photo by Herve Locus.
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  • Dr. Neftalie Williams signs autographs for a group of children
    Dr. Neftalie Williams signs autographs for children who have come to the skate park to meet him. Photo by Herve Locus.
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  • Dr. Neftalie Williams coaches a young skater
    Dr. Neftalie Williams coaches a young skater. Photo by Herve Locus.
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