Kennedy Center Front Plaza Features a Massive Outdoor Skate Park

A skateboarding park at the Kennedy Center? Yep, here’s the scoop:

From Friday to next weekend, the Kennedy Center will present “Finding a Line: Skateboarding, Music, and Media,” a festival that celebrates a vibrant and influential American subculture by highlighting the creative ties and improvisational elements shared between skateboarding and live music.

The 10- day event features both ticketed and free performances as well as “open skate sessions” and exhibits, which connect art, sport, and play with a strong sense of community and fellowship.

Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz and festival curator Jason Moran is the artist at the center of this multidisciplinary exploration. Moran brought the innovative concept to the Center inspired by his own work at SFJAZZ in May 2013.

“The Kennedy Center is an ideal space to showcase the language of improvisation within skateboarding and music,” said Moran, in a news release. “And in Finding a Line, we will embark on a new exploration of our grounds here at the Kennedy Center. The breadth and scope of this series will be thrilling.”

The skateboard park was built this summer by Kennedy Center staff, George Mason University students, local skateboarding enthusiasts and members of the community at large, the Kennedy Center said.

The festival’s skate ambassadors are Palace 5ive, Pitcrew, Buhi World, sPACYcLOUd, Art Under Pressure, Grand National, Cuba Skate, East Coast Round Wall Foundation (ECRW), Concrete Bombers, Dads Skateboards, The DC Wheels, and Dust Farm.

Jason Moran and The Bandwagon perform as part of Finding a Line on Friday, Sept. 11 and Saturday, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m. on the Kennedy Center Front Plaza. Tickets are $22 and available for purchase at the Kennedy Center Box Office, by calling InstantCharge at (202) 467-4600, or through the Kennedy Center website at www.kennedy-center.org.

All other Finding a Line events are free and open to the general public. Finding a Line: Skateboarding, Music, and Media Live music will end at 9 p.m. every night. Playlist will continue until 10 p.m. Park closes at 10 p.m. For the most up-to-date schedule, visit: www.kennedy-center.org/findingaline

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PHOTO of skateboarding park construction courtesy of The Kennedy Center.