Shape of Things To come
Surf the Greats and Whit Surf invite you to ‘The Shape of Things to Come’—a multidisciplinary exhibition celebrating surfboard design as part of Design TO Festival 2019. Explore the process of custom surfboard shaping as Canadian shaper Haynes Kent creates art pieces in collaboration with local artists and designers. These boards will be designed and auctioned as contemporary art as opposed to surfable boards. Join us to see what happens when a surfboard shaper collaborates with prominent multidisciplinary artists and designers. Featuring the work of Adrian Forrow, Christine Flynn, Lucas Murnaghan, Pasha Moezzi, Uber5000 and Sean Lewis.
Board Design Workshop: Tue, Jan 22, 7–8pm
Join us for a board design workshop showcasing the process of making a surfboard and the nuances involved in the design of these surf crafts. The workshop will address the history of surfboards, general design, types of surfboards, surfboard construction, lake vs. ocean surfboards and the importance of customization. Our in-house shaper has created an introductory break down of surfboard design. It is an hour-long workshop involving a slideshow as well as hands-on experience in our shaping bay. The presentation outlines the fundamentals of surfboard design. We discuss the history of surfboards, general design, types of surfboards, surfboard construction, lake vs. ocean surfboards and the importance of customization. The goal of the class is to provide a general understanding of surfboard design and the ability to choose a surfboard that is right for them. At the end of the slideshow, the participants will get to go into a shaping bay (workshop) and see the tools and materials required to create a surfboard.
Closing Party: Sat, Jan 26, 7–11pm
For our closing night, we will host a party with music, drinks and a silent auction. Throughout the night, Haynes will shape a surfboard which will be viewable for all guests through our interactive window in the shaping bay. The café will be open with our coffee menu and beer. At the beginning of the evening we will provide an abbreviated version of our board design workshop hitting the major points. Periodically throughout the night, we will raffle off prizes from our event sponsors. Our shaper will do a live surfboard shaping which will be viewable for all guests through our interactive bay window. After the presentation, people will be welcome to stay and hang out with music and a silent auction.
Shaping Auction
The centrepiece of the evening will be a showcase and silent auction of our Special Edition Design Offsite Creator Series Boards. Our in-house shaper will collaborate with six local artists and designers to create one-of-a-kind art piece surfboards made specifically for the festival. These boards will be designed and auctioned as contemporary art as opposed to surfable boards. All proceeds from the auction go towards the launch of our non-for-profit 'Freshwater Fund' to empower individuals to keep our lakes clean and to protect our homewaters.
Media Preview: Tue, Jan 22, 10am–4pm
The exhibit will be open to the media for documentation and interviews with the shaper on Tuesday, January 22nd from 10am to 4pm. Please register by getting a ticket for that day and e-mail us to schedule your time slot.
Exhibit Hours
Tuesday, January 22: 8:30am–6pm
Wednesday, January 23: 8:30am–6pm
Thursday, January 24: 8:30am–7pm
Friday, January 25: 8:30am–7pm
Saturday, January 26: 11am–11pm
At Surf the Greats, we are fully committed to our community and the preservation of our natural resources. In addition to our monthly community events, in 2016, we created a fund to support the important work by organizations who strive to protect our home waters. Since then, we have donated 1% of our yearly revenue to our ‘Freshwater Fund’ and directed it to an organization that demonstrates a commitment to our common goal. In 2016, we chose the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper as the recipient of the fund. For 2017, our organization of choice was Swim Drink Fish Canada for their efforts to preserve our waterways from Coast to Coast.
As our company and our community grow, for 2018 we are creating our own not-for-profit organization to be called ‘Freshwater Fund’. In addition to our current fiscal commitment to the fund, we will be organizing regular fundraising initiatives to fund a series of community, social and environmental projects initiated by our company and by members of our community. Our goal with the not-for-profit is to inspire change and empower passionate leaders from our community to organize events, projects and initiatives to connect people to our natural environment in meaningful ways.