The Artist’s Panel: Prospect

For today’s post, I wanted to talk about an amazing public art piece in the Ann-Arbor/Ypsilanti area! Prospect Park is a DIY skate park that was painted entirely by the community of people that skates there. Visiting Prospect is like stepping into an immersive world of color and movement. The varying height of the ramps makes the art feel alive, and the sheer amount of it is all-consuming. Adding roller skaters and skateboarders into the mix creates a whole new dimension of life within the art. Many of the skaters are clad with bright-colored outfits and statement pieces, bringing their own unique style into the mismatch of striking art around them. Prospect Park is just that: a jigsaw of personal expression, an explosion of color, and an epicenter of life. To see more images of Prospect Park and to read statements from athletes that skate there, you can follow this link to a copy of my book, Unsponsored?: A Feminist, Queer Skate Story. I had the amazing opportunity to photograph female and gender non-conforming skaters within and outside of the Ann Arbor area. Many of them are artists; one roller skater I talked to has a business selling hand-made rugs in the shape of roller skates. Another is a fifteen-year-old photographer that is just starting out, but produces portraits that make it look like she’s been taking pictures for years. One skateboarder is going to a school across the country to study design this coming fall. Another is a non-binary fashion influencer. Listening to their stories was like talking to Prospect personified; art was all around me.