Oakley, the eyewear brand for athletic performance and extreme sports kicked off the first of three #INRESIDENCE events on Thursday, April 23 in Los Angeles, the birthplace of skateboarding. The night marked the launch for the first space curated by Oakley and dedicated to bringing “together like-minded individuals who share an inner-drive to think differently.” In the coming weeks the Oakley #INRESIDENCE pop-up will make its way to London and New York to indulge each city’s creative clans. In the meantime, #INRESIDENCE celebrates the obsession with skate culture at The Studio LA – a gallery style space and purpose built skate park.

The opening reception was a preview into the two week pop-up where Oakley partners with Girl Skateboard’s Art Dump for an exhibition responding to the “place of obsession’ in skate. Eight of Art Dump’s contributing artists and designers each created a custom board that represents an iconic skate park in LA. On the walls of the gallery space hang eight life-size flags with special designs to mark the daredevil territories around the city like the famous Wilshire Handrail, the Hollywood High School Stairs, and the Santa Monica Triple Set. In addition to a brief history on the locations each exhibit was coupled with an iPad running continuous footage of fearless skaters in action.

Andy Jenkins, Andy Mueller, Jeremy Carnahan, Eric Anthony, Chris Waycott, Carlos Gutierrez, Nate Hooper and Nick Zegel are all the artists responsible for the flags and their respective skateboards designed with the same treacherous locations in mind.  The creative hangout space and pop-up skate park is open to explore daily from 11am – 8pm from April 24 – May 10 at 7763 Melrose in Los Angeles. Free and open to the public, the venue will offer a schedule of workshops, exhibitions, athlete meet-ups, skate sessions and film screenings.

Created by Art Enthusiast Marissa Wilson