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| WiPP whips up avante-garde art with skate team ALICIA McCART SPECIAL FOR THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
The skate team is part of the SUN Community Schools program at Parkrose. SUN, which stand for Schools Uniting Neighborhoods, has incorporated community centers in 46 schools across Multnomah County. The community centers offer entertainment, classes, and facilities for kids, adults, and other organizations in their areas. At Parkrose, skate team members convene throughout the summer and school year to travel to various skateparks around the Portland area and to practice their skate moves. “One of our primary goals here at the Parkrose SUN Community School is to reach our highly diverse youth and provide positive activities for them to be involved in,” Site Manager Trevor Todd said. “When I say diverse, I mean a range of cultural communities and other identity groups traditionally underserved by such programs. The skaters are a good example a great group of kids who often have to overcome the negative stereotypes the public seems to have for them,” Todd said. The graphic design workshop started in the early afternoon and, after a short orientation on Adobe InDesign led by WiPP member Becky Zinkgraff, teens set to work on designing magazine covers, ads, stickers and buttons. With access to more than 200 of the team’s skating photos, participants were able to put their own faces on magazine covers and more. Participant Jessika Condon, who implemented a popular “tile style” into her page design, said, “It’s exciting. It gives you lots of ideas, makes you think.” WiPP is a local organization dedicated to providing resources for the publishing community and the Portland community at large, offering outreach events related to publishing, literacy and women’s issues. WiPP is made up of more than 80 female professionals who write, edit, market, publish and design in the publishing field, and it is always seeking more members. Visit www.womeninpublishing.com for more details. “One of our main goals in WiPP is to join the creative forces of our members to better career opportunities, as well as to unite Portland’s publishing scene,” WiPP President Jen Weaver-Neist said. “We can’t begin to do this, however, until we recognize our place in the greater Portland community. The best way to spread the word is to share, and summertime provides a great opportunity to start with kids, who are out of school and looking for things to do. Plus, we believe Portland publishing is one of this city’s best-kept, up-and-coming secrets. There are future designers, editors, writers, marketing professionals, and publishers waiting to be groomed!” Weaver-Neist said. The teens already practice their art skills by designing T-shirts and painting graffiti on their boards as part of the SUN program. “As an artist it’s always good to have skills that can keep your lights on, and having a basic understanding of computer design programs can really help with that. It will not only help you present your work to a wider audience, but it’s also increasingly becoming a standard requirement for jobs in the art field,” Zinkgraff said. Participant Sterling Arkillis said the best part of the workshop was “being able to learn how to make buttons.” Many participants sported half a dozen new buttons on their shirts, proving his point. Skate team President Rodney Keeling was inspired by his newfound graphic design skills. “I’ll definitely use InDesign more and see what I can do with it. It’s pretty sweet,” he said. “It was a lot to cover in a short workshop,” Todd said, “and everyone from WiPP was great. I could see longer-duration (multiple days) workshops being even more productive. Several kids are already asking me when we can get back on the program and do more.” WiPP and SUN plan to make the graphic design workshop an annual event for the Parkrose skate team. With the right volunteer base, the workshop could occur more frequently. To get involved, e-mail womeninpublishing@hotmail.com.
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