Remembering LOVE Park
Remembering LOVE Park is a multimedia exhibition documenting JFK Plaza, or LOVE Park as it’s better known, as it stood in the 1990s and 2000’s as a national Skateboarding destination. It was unusual to find a skateboarding spot in the middle of a metropolis, but LOVE Park’s smooth granite and flat ledges quickly made it a must-skate spot for people from around the country and the world.
LOVE Park is credited with many milestones in skateboarding. Professional Skaters Josh Kalis and Stevie Williams, amongst others, are credited with getting their start at LOVE Park and turning it into the skateboard mecca that it became popular for. The rise of skateboarding in Philadelphia in the 90s is said to be why the X Games VII were held there in 2002. Just this past year, the city of Malmo, Sweden, built a replica of LOVE Park using the original granite slabs that were salvaged before its demolition. These slabs can also be found in Josh Kalis’s indoor skatepark in Grand Rapids, and in so many skaters’ homes. The influence of LOVE Park is deeply rooted, even today.
The exhibition will feature photographs of skateboarders and the general community occupying LOVE Park during its “prime” alongside cultural ephemera. Photographs of LOVE Park’s final days in 2016 and 2017, videos made at LOVE Park throughout the years, and photographs of skaters at the new LOVE Malmo will provide context on its significant cultural reach. Through this map and timeline of culture and influence, viewers will be exposed to the importance of LOVE Park, and will be made to question: why was it demolished ten years ago?
