After months of planning and years of setbacks from the pandemic, the first official Sound & Skate festival took place in Greenport, Long Island on Saturday August 6th. Organized by local gallery owner Rena Wilhelm, the event featured dozens of vendors, skaters, rock bands, and muralists. Combining different elements of skate culture, the festival was to celebrate the local skate park & help raise funds for rebuilding several of the installations.
The mural festival idea came about to help raise awareness and excitement for the event, with Rena working with local businesses to raise funds for cash prizes. 3rd Place was $800, 2nd was $1500, and 1st place was $2500. UP was honored to be a judge alongside several local establishments. In an instagram post, Rena announced the judges:
“One of my favorite aspects of our festival this Saturday is the showcase of muralists & graffiti artists. They are coming from NY, NJ & Long Island. Some are traveling quite a distance to show us their skills and to be a part of our growing skate park family! I feel honored to have each & every one of them!
So let’s meet our judges:
Jonathan Weiskopf, director & founder of VSOP Projects @vsopprojects , a contemporary art gallery right in Greenport Village. John brings his extensive experience in art appraisal & curation to our showcase and I am thrilled to have him on board!
Nadira Vlaun, is a multidisciplinary artist & co-founder of Studio-Arma @studio.arma , a contemporary furniture & home accessory design studio. Nadira @nadiravlaun is also the owner of her own branding & web development company with quite an impressive body of work showcasing many businesses across the island from wineries to restaurants and so much in between.
TK Mills @t.k.m85 is the creator and proprietor of UP Magazine @up__mag , NYC-based magazine that centers on street art, graffiti, and creative urban culture. UP’s mission is to provide the art community with nuanced, provocative, and critical writing that navigates the questions of our generation while serving their readers high-quality articles that investigate, inform, and entertain.
And then there is me, Rena Wilhelm @renawilhelm.art , owner of The Weathered Barn @theweatheredbarn in Greenport NY. Also a multidisciplinary artist, with over 20 years of experience in interior design and artisan curation. And I am effing stoked!!! (I also drop a lot of f-bombs..sorry but I’m passionate).” To keep things fair, we used the Art League rubric, which ranks each mural 1-5, in three categories: Creativity, Technique, and Theme (skateboarding.) Each judges ranked each piece, and the winners were the ones with highest cumulative scores:
3rd Place Winner: MANUEL ALEJANDRO
2nd Place Winner: IAN CINCO
1st Place Winner: LAWRENCE HUGH BURNS
It was a great day for everyone, and despite the high heat everyone was in good spirits through-out!
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Other Featured Artists:
