The City of Yelm Parks and Recreation Department is inviting skateboarders to express themselves through graffiti at the Yelm Skate Park in an upcoming event.
Yelm Skate Park Graffiti Day is set to run from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16 at the Yelm Skate Park, and the Yelm Parks and Recreation Department invites all skaters and artists to attend and participate.
Line Roy, the city’s communications and recreation coordinator, said she’s hoping for a good turnout at the event. In the coming week of the event, Roy said she and Cody Colt, the city’s public works director, will visit the skate park to speak with its “regulars” to start spreading the word about the event.
“Anyone who wants to make their mark is welcomed and encouraged to. We’ll have set spaces that we want to decorate, and we’ll encourage them to stay in those spots,” Roy said. “Anything that is disrespectful or doesn’t belong in a public space like that will be cleaned up, but we’re hoping to make it a pretty regular thing.”
Roy said they’ll provide the paint for those who would like to participate. She added that there’s no registration for the event, and that skaters and artists can just “show up and paint.” The department welcomes people with “any skill level” to participate.
“We just wanted to give the people who use the skate park, the skateboarders, an opportunity to make it their own in the best way that we could. The graffiti wall is right back there, so we wanted to play off that and pull it into the skate park a little more, and allow them to own it,” Roy said. “For me, letting them own the thing they use most frequently is great. We’ve been working on bringing more arts into Yelm, and more opportunities for creativity. Just having this, that reaches a different demographic, is special.”
Yelm Skate Park is located at 201 First St. NE, across the street from Yelm City Park.
