The Vans Park Series took place at Huntington Beach on August 3-4 and it was an exciting skateboarding event for Swatch because we were able to combine our passions for art and sports as the creative partner of this stop on the Vans Park Series World Championship Tour. We were mesmerized by Swatch artists before the event and cheered on Proteam skater Nora Vasconcellos during the event as she made her way into the finals. 

Check out the pictures and videos below and you’ll see the illustrative, bold and whimsical designs in the bowl: that artwork was done by artists who made their mark on the concrete before the competition began. The custom-spec park was built directly on the sand in iconic Huntington Beach and the exhilarating competition was put on in conjunction with the Vans US Open, the largest sports action festival in the world. We selected artists such as Michael C. Hsiung from Los Angeles, Ellen Rutt from Detroit, Jack Graydon from Portland, Benjamn Marasco from Chicago and Phil Morgan from Wales. These creative geniuses are well-known in the skating scene and represent a lively cross-section of artistic styles. Their mural provided the perfect backdrop for the incredible talent and killer skills that were on display during the skating event. Michael said: “My favorite part about painting the mural is when you see it getting shredded by all the amazing skateboarders!”

And speaking of shredding... Nora, our newest Proteam athlete and the 2017 Park Series World Champion, was especially fun to watch as she snuck onto the finals lineup in the last minute of her last run of the semi round. She placed eighth in the finals on Friday.

We believe skateboarding and art go hand in hand, and we are thrilled that this project involved such a brilliant array of artistic abilities and, of course, impressive skateboarding skills.