Mike Monaco may seem like your average high schooler, a little quieter than most, but in his thoughtful silence Monaco is exploring an entirely new medium of expression: skateboarding. While it might not be the first art form that comes to mind, skating’s popularity has soared among young adults in the past few decades. For many teenagers, visiting skateparks with friends  is just a hobby, but for skaters like Monaco, it’s more serious than that.

     “A lot of it is practicing… a lot of skateboarders really enjoy it and put in a lot of hours… it takes a lot of patience,” said Monaco.

    One aspect of skating which sets it aside from most most  art forms is the fact that it’s almost impossible to create new tricks. “Skateboarders tend to make ‘lines’ – multiple tricks in a row while moving across a street park or street terrain,” explained Monaco. Unlike visual art forms, where the artist is free to experiment with elements such as color and texture, skateboarders have a select number of moves to choose from, leading them to revolutionize their style in different ways. “A lot of thought goes into trick selection,” said Monaco, “it’s hard to invent a trick, but you have the freedom to do tricks on new terrain.”

    From new tricks to stances, skateboarding has evolved a lot over the years. Favoring older skateboarding styles over more contemporary ones, Monaco cites Mark Gonzales as his biggest inspiration. “He kind of invented street skating,” said Monaco.

     “My favorite trick is probably the no comply 180,” said Monaco, “you take your front foot off and the board just rests on your foot.” When it comes to what other skaters have to say about Monaco’s performance, junior Stephen Payne describes Monaco as “chill.” “He has a very relaxed style” said Payne.

    While Monaco identifies himself as a skateboarder, he is also an esteemed photographer. “He takes his time and waits for the right picture,” said art teacher Ms. Hendrickson, who had the pleasure of teaching Monaco in photography last year.

    Interestingly enough, both of Monaco’s talents go hand-in-hand. “[Skateboarding] is only permanent in filming and photographing,” said Monaco, describing the peculiar nature of the art form.

    “You want to document the harder tricks. It’s like filming a sports game,” Monaco said. In discussing Monaco’s photography, freshman Colin Young said that he “likes to do landscape photos with skating in them”.

    Another fascinating aspect of Monaco’s photos is his use of film rather than digital cameras. “It’s pretty retro looking” said Young, describing the unique look of the film. “In his skating photos he’s able to freeze the action,” said Ms. Hendrickson, adding some insight into how Monaco’s photography can be integrated into his skateboarding career.

    Among his many achievements as a skateboarder, Monaco shyly admitted to having won first place in two skating competitions at a camp in New Hampshire, where he beat out 24 other contestants. Monaco was also recruited as part of Luminate Skate Shop’s skateboard team, where he was sponsored by the business.

    “[Skateboarding teams] are different from sports teams” said Monaco, “there are no coaches, and you can basically do whatever you want.” After skating with Luminate for a short while, Monaco decided that the team wasn’t for him. “It wasn’t the right fit” Monaco said, and so he resigned from the sponsorship and returned to skating with his usual group. “It’s just relaxing. It’s something I can do with a bunch of friends” said Monaco.

    Wherever he might end up next, Mike Monaco is sure to be breaking new ground with his multiple artistic talents, combining multiple media to create truly unique works of art.