skate boarding

Congratulations to Verdant Richmond for their Community Beautification grant award of $1,000 as part of our 13th annual Green Grants Program!

Verdant Richmond was founded in 2017 to address the condition of Richmond’s parks and public green spaces.  They applied for a Green Grant in order to improve a small but extremely active Richmond City Park.  The site hosts a Skatepark, Community Garden, and a Children’s Play Space.  The goal is to improve the public green space that supports skate park users, playing children, the ecology and biodiversity of the site, to deepen interdependence between neighbors.

As the skatepark has grown over the past decade, the overall look of the park is somewhat disjointed, with some of the skate ramps covered in vibrant murals, while others are worn, peeling, or defaced. The skaters, neighbors and gardeners believe the space would benefit greatly from cosmetic improvements and a cohesive look.

Each year on June 21st, skateboarders from around the world celebrate Go Skateboarding Day. This year, Gardeners and Skaters are coming together at Maymond Community Garden to refresh and add to the murals that cover the park in the days leading up to Go Skateboarding Day. A group of local artists will paint fresh works inspired by the vibrant colors of the nearby garden flora to create a space that is visually pleasing to the eye and welcoming to community members of all ages.  It is anticipated that 300-400 people will attend Go Skateboarding Day.

In preparation for the event, Verdant Richmond will coordinate their largest ever skate and garden volunteer cleanup. There is a lot of litter and construction debris at the site.  They expect to have over 50 volunteers participate in the re-painting and cleanup work days.  They will repaint approximately 3,600 square feet of walls and ramps at the Skate Park/Garden site, with approximately 15 murals by 15 local artists.

What a beautiful way to cleanup a public green space, we’ll have to check it out!