Skateboarding history exhibit draws 500+ attendees opening day.
The Tempe History Museum’s latest exhibit ‘Dry Surf’ is a culmination of 18 months of work, curation and planning by Interim Museum Director Josh Roffler, along with his incredible staff and myself, Rob Locker. Of course none of this could have gone down without the skateboarding community. Several outreach events and massive networking led to this entirely on-loan donations exhibit.
The original objective was to cover local skateboarding from it’s origins in the 1960’s to present-day. What we soon found out was this subject was way too large for the space, time and resources we had to make it happen. Arizona is truly unique in the skateboarding world. Our terrain, climate and timing made it possible for A LOT of skateboarding in Arizona go down with each decade offering an entirely new story. Not only all the different unique terrain, the skateboarders themselves incubated a skateboard culture that the now defunct ‘The Skateboard Mag‘ called Arizona ‘The Best Skateboarding Scene“. I myself have pretty much dedicated my life to being a local skateboarder and I learned way more than I anticipated.
Many meetings later the main show came to fruition, with the direction depending on what we collected from the public. Plans for online addendums showing what didn’t make it in and more inciteful stories about Arizona skateboarding are in the works.
The original DeadCat/Desert Pipes crew came out in full force to support Steve ‘Ping!’ Pingleton’s solo photo exhibit and his book, Arizona Desert Pipes & Beyond. (sold out!)
The turnout for the two-hour reception was overwhelming. Aside from a skate demo, Ping!’s book release and book signing, we had custom ‘Dry Surf’ skateboards available for purchase. These decks are not just wall hangers. Totally legit grip-it and rip-it skateboard decks from AZPX’s deck manufacturer, PSStix. Josh Roffler, the museum’s Interim Director held a free raffle of two decks and Desert Pipes book. Thanks to DJ Jasper Punk for setting the good vibes with skate rock.
It was amazing to see so many generations of skateboarders in one place. It was even better watching people see stuff that stoked memories and see their face light up. The museum staff estimated around 500+ people turned out to check out the exhibit. In fact, the exhibit hall was so packed there were comments they couldn’t see everything….that might be a good thing because we heard a lot of folks plan on coming back on their own to take everything in.
While attendees were checking out the exhibit, there was chaos going on outside in the plaza with a skate demo featuring my son and his friends.
Demo rippers: Mason Locker, Sam Joseph, Shayden Colvin, Ryder Colvin, Zander Brand, Miles Canevello, Doof and Sam Underkolfer
Many thanks to Tim Ward from Skate After School for delivering skate obstacles and taking them with him after the demo. Much appreciated Tim! Also, big thanks to Rich Fuentes for fabricating an 80’s style PVC grindrail for the demo. It was a hit!
Much thanks to Nathan Duty from Grateful Shred Skateboards for coming out to shoot photos.
A huge shout-out goes out to Professor Paul Schmitt at PSStix OEM Skateboard Manufacturing for making sure we got our custom Dry Surf/AZPX decks on time for the opening. Thank you Paul! Grip ’em and Rip ’em!
Scenes from the exhibit…
An unsung hero of the exhibit is one of my oldest partners in crime (skating empty pools) is Colin Choy. I reached out to Choy for help in writing some of the information boards. His ultra-skate-geek took over and he delivered. Here he is next to a panel he composed along with a photo of him ripping the Casa Grande Bowl (lower right corner). For more Choy geekiness, check out this over-the-top article about the Tempe Underground.
Steve Pingleton Photo Exhibit. Highly recommended to see in person!
Grab a Tee!
Price range: $19.99 through $26.59- Price range: $19.99 through $26.59
‘Dry Surf’ runs until the end of January 2026. The museum is planning several events during it’s tenure which will be announced at a later time. Admission is free.
Closed Sunday-Monday.
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