Deck and Artwork Submission by Ani Cassellius (@cassellius_art)

My name is Ani (she/her) and I started longboarding this past April. I like the theme of start somewhere because that’s how I often felt because it was a lot of teaching myself. Along the way though I learned there is an eager skate community. Twice this summer I ran into strangers and went boarding with them, not something I would usually do but I had no reason to not trust other POC youth with a board just looking for a friend to skate with. As for cultural representation in the Minneapolis skate community, there is an org in Minneapolis called JXTA Position Arts (runs an art studio for POC youth), they have a skate-able art plaza designed by the youth that works there, I have seen it but not really skated because I mostly longboard.

It’s freeing sharing a ride with someone, it’s so much different than my usual hobby which is visual art. I ironically realized I was interested in skating when I broke the trucks of my partner’s brother’s old board. So in honor of that being how I started skating I painted the same board. It’s designed as the view of looking up at a tree underneath a street light. Something I find peace looking at while on a ride.

Thank you Ani for sharing not just your artwork, but your truth about being a POC skater-artist and the impact of JXTA Position Arts!

Ani is currently selling stickers and other artworks on Redbubble!

For more of Ani, check her out on Instagram!