Griptape Art by Chad Muska

On July 11^th, Next Up had the tremendous opportunity of having legendary pro skateboarder, Chad Muska, come to our Success Lab and teach a griptape art workshop. We believe that it’s important to teach the youth that there are many ways of expressing themselves through the combination of different art forms related to skateboarding. Chad Muska stated, “I’ve always liked to paint my griptape to hype myself while I skated”, and we are absolutely honored to have had him come teach our kids how to design their own cool unique artwork and get themselves hyped. Muska provided the Next Up kids with all the necessary tools including spray paint, stencils, paint markers, and griptape. During this awesome workshop, we had the great pleasure of having about 8 participants from KidWorks of Santa Ana – another after-school nonprofit. It was great being able to give them an experience and the opportunity of being a part of something so special. During the Workshop Chad Muska spoke about his passion for skateboarding, his history, and how griptape art allowed him to express himself in another art form blended with skateboarding. He expressed his appreciation for Next Up and the opportunities Next Up gives to our youth. Muska said, “I couldn’t have imagined a place to go to like this as a youth. They bring skateboarders together and help teach them life lessons that they need to succeed”.

We would like to thank Chad Muska for taking the time to come to Next Up, and helping make skateboarding more fun. We would also like to thank our friends over at Freedom Riders Skateboarding for providing us with some photographers to capture this special occasion. Thanks to everyone that showed up and helped by giving support to Muska and the kids! We hope to see you soon, Muska!