Putting it together: LA artist Kiptoe begins work on 'bold' skate park mural - Enid, OK - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

Skateboards, bikes, and lots of movement are shown in this wonderful mural by L.A. Artist Kiptoe. "Enid, OK" is painted at the top right of the wall.

From the Visit Enid website:

The Enid Skate Park Mural was a partnership between the City of Enid and the Public Arts Commission of Enid. It debuted on October 21, 2021 by artist Kiptoe. The mural stretches across two buildings owned by Luckinbill, Inc. It overlooks the Enid Skate Park which opened in December, 2020.

Article text:

The professional artist known as “Kiptoe” knew to expect the unexpected when he started work on his 2,700-square-foot mural Tuesday at Enid’s new skate park.

Standing atop a scissor lift in paint-splattered athletic wear, Los Angeles area-artist Matt Dean had to take a wrench, then a small axe to remove a piece of wood still attached at the top of the north wall of the building that sits to the side of the park at Randolph and 5th.

As he hacked away with both arms, the wooden plank began rotating like a clock hand, still not coming off the wall.

“I’m getting a workout over here!” he said from the lift, before giving up to take a lunch break courtesy of McAlister’s Deli while waiting for a better option to arrive.

Dean thankfully knew to do his stretches and say his prayers as he began the first steps of priming and then sketching his city-approved design.

For the rest of the week, Dean will work on the northern wall of the Luckinbill Inc. building, then move onto a boom lift with a bendable arm for the southern wall, which sits behind a less stable grassy area.

Public Arts Commission of Enid, then the Enid City Commission gave Dean’s vision the OK earlier this summer after his design was chosen over 18 others initially submitted to PACE.

The city commissioned Dean $42,500 to spray-paint his design at the skate park, adding to Enid’s quickly growing collection of wall murals. The skate park’s would be the most expensive publicly funded art project in PACE’s lifespan and is intended to remain on the buildings for at least 10 years.

“Yours was spot-on,” PACE chair Christy Northcutt told him Tuesday, as they both sat on the bleachers enjoying their lunch.

Dean’s design will feature skateboarders, BMX cyclists, roller skaters and scooter riders, with a sign reading “Enid, OK” in the top-right corner of the northern wall.

Dean said he wanted to pull from his early memories of growing up skateboarding and watching professionals such as Tony Hawk and Travis Pastrana on the X Games on ESPN.

With men and women in Dean’s design in all kinds of motion and in vibrant hues of blue, red and tan, the mural also looks like panels in a superhero comic book spread — an aesthetic Dean says he pulls from for many of his wall murals, hand-drawn paintings and digital art works.

Dean’s art often features animals or human-animal hybrids, warriors in combat, and exaggerated masculine and feminine figures, all elements typical of the Marvel, DC and Dark Horse publications.

“I love having lots of movements and bold color palettes,” he said.

Dean, who now lives in the San Bernardino, Calif., area, also will bring a camera with him to a job location, then plan shots and future edits while he’s also working on the mural. He’s filmed videos of himself working in South America, Europe and all over the U.S., including a recent mural project in Oklahoma City.

He’ll then post videos of these trips and ones filmed at home in Joshua Tree on his YouTube channel, his Instagram @Kiptoe1 and other social media pages — including while he works here in Enid.

These video productions, too, have a comic-book aesthetic — shots zoom into exaggerated close-ups, cartoonish sound effects are edited in and voiceovers narrate sped-up montages.

The camera’s been rolling since Dean started working Tuesday morning.

“Even though it’s like three jobs in one, I still think it’s worth it,” he said. “I want people to see the struggles, not just a highlight reel that other mural artists do.”

He then pointed to the piece of wood still up on the wall before saying, “Like that,” already planning how he’ll piece that footage together, too.

Type of publication: Newspaper When was the article reported?: 10/13/2021 Publication: Enid News and Eagle Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Arts/Culture

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