# 5764 - 2023 First-Class Forever Stamp - The Art of the Skateboard: Skateboard Design by William James Taylor, Red & Orange

U.S. #5764
2023 Abstract Design
Art of the Skateboard

• Pictures a skateboard deck with an abstract red and orange design by self-taught artist William James Taylor Jr.
• One of four stamps in the Art of the Skateboard set
• Celebrates the artistic diversity in the skateboarding world

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Art of the Skateboard
Value:  63¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  March 24, 2023
First Day City:  Phoenix, Arizona
Quantity Issued:  18,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset
Format:  Pane of 20
Self-Adhesive

Why the stamp was issued:  This stamp, along with the other three Art of the Skateboard stamps, was issued to celebrate the artistry of skateboard decks.

About the stamp design:  The design was created by Virginia self-taught artist William James Taylor Jr.  It pictures a red and orange abstract graphic design.  The stamp was created using a photograph of Taylor’s skateboard deck design.

First Day City:  The Art of the Skateboard stamps were issued in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Desert West Skate Plaza during the Cowtown Phoenix Am skateboarding contest, an appropriate choice for the stamps’ First Day of Issue Ceremony.

About the Art of Skateboard set:  According to the USPS, “These four stamps celebrate the Art of the Skateboard with vibrant designs that capture skateboarding’s excitement and reflect the diversity and influences of the four artists whose work is featured:

Crystal Worl, an Alaskan artist used a blue and indigo salmon formline design to express her Tlingit/Athabascan heritage.

William James Taylor Jr., a self-taught Virginia artist created an energetic red and orange graphic abstraction.

Federico “MasPaz” Frum, a Colombian-born, Washington, DC-raised muralist painted a stylized jaguar.

Di’Orr Greenwood, of Arizona represented her Navajo culture with a turquoise-inlaid skateboard that features eagle feathers and colors of the rising or setting sun.”

History the stamp represents:  In 2023, the US Postal Service issued four stamps picturing Art of the Skateboard.  Each design showcases a skateboard deck painted by a different artist:  Crystal Worl, William James Taylor Jr., Di’Orr Greenwood, and Federico Frum (Mas Paz).  The artists expressed unique styles, with Taylor branching out from the others with a red and orange abstract graphic.

Adding custom art to the decks of skateboards has helped skaters express their individuality.  The practice has been around for decades, with some of the earliest designs inspired by street art and graffiti.  Both street art and skateboarding originated around the 1940s and ‘50s and were symbols of rebelliousness and creativity.  Eventually, street artists and skateboarders merged into one community, creating modern street culture.

Skateboard decks were once hand-painted by artists.  This evolved into spray painting, which progressed to digital printing.  In fact, today, skateboarders can go online and find countless deck art options they can apply themselves.  However, it’s no longer just skaters who want deck art.  It’s also become fashionable for art enthusiasts to buy skateboards with particularly impressive designs and display them on a wall of their home.  It’s amazing to think something that was once considered counterculture has now become widely accepted and even trendy.