The Board Art Benefit is an event designed to bring surfing's leading artists together at great venues where they will have the opportunity to create live art on surfboards to raise awareness and funds for SurfAid. The first event will be held at the Sacred Craft Surfboard Expo in Del Mar, California on October 8-9, 2011.

The concept was inspired by an event that SurfAid held at the 2011 Sacred Craft Surfboard Expo in Santa Cruz, called Shapers 4 Humanity.  At this event, several of the world’s top shapers were invited to take part in a live shaping event and donate the finished boards to SurfAid.  The Board Art Benefit extends this concept to the artists and invites some of the leading artists from the surf community to lend their unique aesthetic vision to the surfboards as well.

The event will occur at Sacred Craft in a space dubbed ‘The Art Grotto’. Participating artists (and board shapers) are Phil Roberts (& Gerry Lopez), Damian Fulton (& Tyler Hatzikian), Rick Rietveld (& Jed Noll), Erik Abel (& Robert Weiner - Surfing Magazine's 2011 Shaper of the Year), Heather Ritts (Firewire), Spencer Reynolds (& Jeff "Doc" Lausch), Wade Koniakowsky (& Mike Hynson), Tyler Warren (Firewire), Robb Havassy (& Rusty Preisendorfer), Ron Croci (& John Birchim), Norm Daniels (Firewire) and our amazing supporter and event brain child, Matt Beard (& Yohei Shiraishi). 

The purpose of the Board Art Benefit is to provide a great venue for the participating artists to showcase their work, to provide the public with a great chance to witness some of their favorite artists at work, and to support SurfAid. The finished boards from this event will be auctioned at later events, with proceeds benefitting SurfAid.

Come and join us at Sacred Craft at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on October 8-9, 2011. Look for the SurfAid booth and Art Grotto section.  Learn more about the event and the artists at Board Art Benefit or contact SurfAid at 760-753-1103.