# A celebration of skateboarding culture

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2018-06-01

arts-and-culture, build-for-bokma, cities, city-builder, elevated-highway, highway, justin-bokma, skateboard, skateboarding, skateboarding-culture, the-bentway, the-gardiner-expressway, toronto, uncategorized, urbanism, vans

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I used to skateboard when I was growing up and so I have a lot of respect for the sport. This summer, from June 30 to August 12, [The Bentway](http://www.thebentway.ca/) here in Toronto will be working with [Build for Bokma](https://www.buildforbokma.com/) and [Vans](https://www.vans.ca/) to transform its outdoor (ice) skating trail into [a summer-long celebration of skateboarding arts and culture](http://www.thebentway.ca/event/cite-a-celebration-of-skateboard-arts-and-culture/?utm_source=The+Bentway&utm_campaign=26651d0808-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_05_31_&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a4ecf25b96-26651d0808-26795993&mc_cid=26651d0808&mc_eid=0c73bd6a37). This is great.

I am sure you all know Vans. But you may not be aware of Build for Bokma. They are a non-profit whose mission is to create skateable public structures. And their long-term goal is to develop a permanent skatepark that commemorates the late Canadian pro skateboarder, [Justin Bokma](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/college-street-shooting-1.3661328).

A big part of skateboarding culture is reimagining spaces and adapting to different urban environments. And if you think about it, that’s exactly what The Bentway is doing. They are reimagining a part of this city’s urban infrastructure. So I think this is a perfect fit and I am excited to see it come to life this summer.

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/a-celebration-of-skateboarding-culture)*