Why be bored in school? Go to a Skateboard School! This Toronto District School Board alternative school design program helps students earn high school credits and graduate by creating their own brand and running a skateboard business / professional design studio. OASIS SKATEBOARD FACTORY (OSF) "ON THE GRIND": TDSB's ART & ENTREPRENEURSHIP O.G.s since 2006!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Slidin' into Summer...See ya' in September!



Congratulations to all our active Semester 2 Students who passed all their credits (100% course completion rate) and are moving on to new school and life opportunities!

The OSF classroom has been packed and locked up for the summer, but we are looking forward to starting back on September 6th for Year 3 of the expanded Oasis Skateboard Factory high school program with a new crew of students.

Program Coordinator & Teacher Craig Morrison will be reachable sporadically in July and August at craig.morrison@tdsb.on.ca . If you need to reach Oasis Alternative S.S., want to speak to someone or leave a message, please call the Main Office of the school at 416-393-9830.

Article by OSF Students on "Skateboard Charities" published in the 10th Anniversary issue of CONCRETE WAVE magazine (on newsstands NOW!)



slo_skate zine #4 ($4 or $5 with Button)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Leadership Project & Artist Collaboration with Runt: 4 Original Boards available with all proceeds to support Clay & Paper Theatre's "Cyclops" project





Own a piece of Toronto street art history…and help support Clay & Paper Theatre and their Cycling Oriented Puppet Squad!

Cyclops Song: “2 wheels are better than 4”… unless it’s a skateboard!

* Limited Edition: 2 Street Decks and 2 Pintail Longboards are available for a donation of $250 each to Clay & Paper Theatre.

As a final project by Leadership Students in the Oasis Skateboard Factory (#1 on the Toronto Star’s “Coolest Schools” list), Zach Lefevre and Jonathan Prince have collaborated with famed Lee’s Palace Muralist RUNT (voted “Toronto’s Favorite Graffiti Artist” six times in NOW weekly) to hand-build, stencil and paint four original Canadian Maple skateboards to fundraise and support Cyclops (Cycling Oriented Puppet Squad).

Contact Cyclops 416-708-3332
www.clayandpapertheatre.org
runtster2001@yahoo.com
http://oasisskateboardfactory.blogspot.com
craig.morrison@tdsb.on.ca

Leadership Project: This Custom Designed Short-LongBoard was sold as a complete set-up with proceeds donated to Japan Relief





Specs:
-Hand-made Canadian Maple board
-gripped
-70mm Sector 9 wheels
-Randal Trucks: Special Edition Colour-way for Japan Fundraiser

A Letter to New Students from a Student Moving On...



A Letter to New Students from a Student Moving On...

Craig has been great, I’ve never had such a supportive teacher. In most situations he gives you total creative control and is always there to extend a helping hand. Not only is he a very personable teacher but he’s extremely knowledgeable on Street art and art in general. I’m so grateful for everything that I’ve been exposed to because of Craig and all his hard work.

The school work we do here at Oasis Skateboard Factory is a lot different from your average school. Most of it is a lot more hands on due to the street art and board building aspects. It doesn’t just stop there though; most of the business work that we do is applied in a real world setting. Whether its building a board on commission for a sandwich shop or screen printing in a professional studio like The Baitshop, we are always doing something where you either walk away with money or a product you can hold, so it feels like you’ve actually accomplished something.

This school has had a big impact on the way I look at school and work in general. Before I came to this school I had never passed an art class because of the constraints that the curriculum put on the work you where supposed to produce. Since coming to OSF I’ve not only acquired multiple art credits, but I’ve actually been approached by multiple interested parties looking for me to do design work. I’ve also decided that I’d like to continue doing art and possibly even make it a full time job.

Being a part of the Factory means your constantly working on something, and when your constantly doing something creative you’re going to make a lot of memories. One of my favourite days at the Factory was our Frankenboard build. We gathered scrap wood and other things from the garbage around Kensington Market to build crazy makeshift longboards and then raced them. My build team won and we got free movie passes and other prizes like clothing; it was defiantly a memorable day.

Oasis Skateboard Factory is definately a one of a kind program and is full of crazy cool opportunities!

Thanks to Everyone who made the OSF Community Council BBQ, Art Show/Sale, and Leaving Ceremony/Graduation a Success!




Sponsor: Adrenaline Tattoos & Body Piercing


Sponsor: Murrays Sandwich Emporium



Sponsor: Porchetta & Co.

Undead



This is my last semester and I have been pushing my skills more than ever. My board is a zombie apocalypse roaming a graveyard searching for brains. I like the whole zombie survival concept and the rotting flesh deteriorating and graphic content.

I am a fan of the zombie horror films and was inspired by the old movie Night of the Living Dead. When it comes to zombies it has to be very detailed and gory. To do that I stencilled the background of the zombies, trees, and the moon, then I use a paint marker to do the fine details like skin tearing, clothes shredding and moon lighting to feel like they are in the environment. I tried to make it look like a comic book style by sticking to few colours such as, purple, black, white, grey. The zombie board is mainly lines for the three dimensional shapes and colour tones to add the feel of a comic book theme.

I am very satisfied with my first custom board. I like the shape and the shoulders to give your feet a comfortable grip on the drop deck. The graphic I created works with the unique shape of this board to show off my own personal technique/style I have developed over the year in OSF. I plan to sell this board to get my name out there and to make more boards with my zombie style graphics.

Welcome to Lauren!


Lauren Hortie, local artist and DJ, will join the OSF team this September as a part-time Teacher working alongside Craig Morrison who is continuing as the full-time Teacher.

Sponsor:Sanction Skateshop


Roi Custom

Artist Collaboration: Playdead Cult


Artist Collaboration: Chobo

Gift for The Baitshop



Sponsor: Grapefruit Moon

Spiderman/Venom


I have been with Oasis Skateboard Factory since it started as a school. I will be leaving this year and hopefully continuing to make longboards. I really enjoyed making this board overall. I’m a fan of comic books, so when I thought of making a Spiderman/Venom board I wanted to start right away.

The process was tricky and tedious and involved multiple presses on the same mould; it also took lots of help from Ted at RoarRocket, but it was completely worth it in the end. The wood is raised up giving the character a three dimensional look and a lot of texture. I left natural blue and red wood showing in the character, but spray painted the shading on for some contrast. I really like that I did the black detail and web in wood burning.

This board was made for cruising and I'm sure any longboarder would be happy to have it!

Sponsor: Model Citizen


I-Con Custom


Hello. This is my second and last semester at the Oasis Skateboard Factory. The graphic I used on my board was a new version of my I-Con character. The inspiration for my character came from a show called a Bump in the Night which features a character that holds his eyes with his hands.

My board was made from 100% Canadian Maple. This is my first custom board. I made the original shape of the board and the mould myself. I made the image by masking off the whole board with tape and cutting out a stencil. I then spray painted it. Through my brand I try to communicate the possibility of alien life forms existing.

I really like how this board turned out. My time at OSF has been the best throughout my whole high school career. Attending Oasis made me actually enjoy going to school and made me want to go. This was the first year I passed all my courses and I owe a big thank you to Craig for giving me this opportunity and I will never forget my experience here ☺

A Gift to CJ Skateboard Park


Individual Commission: Star Wars


I've been at OSF for the past two semesters and I absolutely love making longboards. The theme of my longboard and image is "Haunt".

This board is 100% Canadian Maple. I started off by spraying the background of the board with black fading into white. After that I decided to stencil with tape because of all the detailed lines. I sprayed the black on, then sprayed gloss to give the board a nice finishing shine. I kept this board black and white to make the graphic "haunting" and memorable.

This board is my custom board I get to keep, and I'm very happy with the end results. Thanks to Craig and Ted for the help along the way!

Wings


I’ve been a student at OSF for about two semesters and it’s been great. Oasis really helped me to get my credits and I’ve learned a lot of new art skills that I know will be useful if I plan to go to college. The theme of my board is the Wings picture of Michael Jordan. It's one of my favourite poster pictures of him, plus he’s my favourite player, and that’s why he is the inspiration for my board.

I am happy with the way the picture of Jordan with his arms outstretched fits really nicely on the custom shape that I designed and carved out myself. To make this board I had help from my teacher and a classmate when putting the lighting effects into the picture. I had help with the spraying around the board to make the halo effect around him. I used different shading and lighting techniques to highlight Jordan’s facial features and muscle tone, this really helped to make my board look complete.

I feel proud to have completed my first custom board. I really like the graphic and I think it came out really nice. If I have a chance this summer I think I’m going to try and make another custom board on my own.

Sponsor: Ride Away Bikes