Noel Lyn Smith
ICT
PHOENIX — Indigenous artists are helping the U.S. Postal Service with a new series of stamps that recognizes the artwork that adorns skateboard decks.
“I instantly knew it’s a rare opportunity,” Di’Orr Greenwood, Diné, said about being one of the artists selected for the Art of the Skateboard stamps.
Greenwood, 27, is from Sawmill, Arizona but now divides her time between there and Southern California, where she works and teaches skateboarding and produces custom-made skateboards.
Her design for the stamp features crushed turquoise inlay and wood burned designs of eagle feathers and a star pattern that represents the morning and evening stars.
After taking in the honor of being a stamp artist, Greenwood thought about what to design.
“I gotta make something that I’m genuinely proud of, and that genuinely speaks to skateboarders, but also my community at the same time,” she said in an interview with ICT from Southern California.
She started skateboarding while attending Window Rock High School in Fort Defiance, Arizona. When she moved to Phoenix to finish school, her skateboard became her main mode of transportation.
“I just fell in love with the utility of it. Like, how I was able to get everything done using the sheer power of my push and a skateboard,” she said.
She said it was an honor to participate in the project, especially knowing that she is among the few Indigenous artists to have their work on a stamp.
The skateboard deck that Greenwood created for the stamp and the other decks will eventually be turned over to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum as a part of the Postmaster General’s Collection in Washington, D.C.
The collection consists of the original artwork that the Postal Service has commissioned for stamps for the last 75 years, according to the museum’s website.
The four stamps were unveiled on March 24 at the first-day-of-issue event at the Desert West Skate Park in Phoenix.
Stamp artists Crystal Worl and Federico “MasPaz” Frum attended the event alongside Greenwood.
Worl, Tlingit Athabascan, designed a stamp that features a blue and indigo sockeye salmon.
She explained that her design brings attention to how important the sockeye is to Alaska Natives and to the state of Alaska.
“We are really proud of our salmon. It’s a symbol of wealth,” Worl said.
Frum, Colombian, created a design that features the jaguar of the Amazon Basin.
The fourth artist, William James Taylor Junior, did not attend the event. His design is a striking red and orange graphic abstraction.
“These stamps are pretty gnarly,” William Zollars, a member of the Postal Service Board of Governors, said.
While the origins of certain sports can be debated, skateboarding is a sport that started in the U.S., he said.
“The importance of skateboarding goes far beyond the sport itself and into the cultural impact that it has had on the country,” said Zollars, who wore gray and black skateboarding shoes by the company, Vans.
This impact includes clothing, festivals, music, video games, film and artwork, he added.
The Postal Service printed 18 million Art of the Skateboard stamps.
“The event marked the official release of the stamps, which feature artistic skateboard decks with bold, vibrant designs that capture skateboarding’s excitement, diversity and rebellious attitude,” according to a news release from the Postal Service.
The selection process for stamps is overseen by the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, which receives approximately 30,000 suggestions each year for stamp ideas, but only 25 to 30 topics are selected, according to the Postal Service.
Committee members review suggestions then make recommendations to the postmaster general.
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