Ian Mckibben represents HBUHSD with shark surfboard

By Alex Doan

Last Thursday Ian Mckibben (’14) represented HBUHSD at the Surfboards On Parade event at the Huntington Beach Art Center with his design of a surfboard. Out of the 28 artists invited to the event, Mckibben was the only teenager to be featured.

Surfboards on Parade is a Huntington Beach Rotary Club event where artists are invited to create one-of-a-kind surfboards of their design. The proceeds from Surfboards On Parade will benefit Hoag Family Cancer Institute to support education for skin cancer education and research, the Rotary Club of Huntington Beach and the Huntington Beach Art Center. The event will last a couple months with the surfboards being sent around Huntington Beach.

As a child, Mckibben was inspired by his surrounding environment. His passion for 3-D art stems from the idea the multidimensional quality it possesses.

Mckibben’s art teacher JoAnna Jones approached him with the idea of participating in the event. Believing that an interactive piece would be the best, Mckibben developed his idea of a surfboard with a eight-foot shark coming through it.

After receiving a custom-shaped surfboard by Brad Fernandez, Mckibben worked day in and day out a week before the official event. With the help of his friend Sasha Davis (’14) and Jones, Mckibben created the shark with fiberglass and foam and spent hours sanding and filling before he could add the right mixture of paint layers of blues, grays, and whites.

“When we finally unveiled the shark ripping through the board, I received lots of positive responses,” he said.

Mckibben is pursuing his dream in the arts and will be attending  the Savannah College of Art and Design next fall with a major in Industrial Design.

“Being one of the 28 invited artists who got to participate in this outstanding event, Surfboards on Parade, was incredible,” said Mckibben. “I got to meet some of the biggest names in surfing, as well as some spectacular artists of the area.”