Tasty Skateboards Roll Out Art Collaboration With Narragansett Beer

WORCESTER, Mass. — For Worcester skater, artist and entrepreneur Patrick Scully, the Narragansett Beer and Tasty Skateboards deck collaboration is one of the most exciting projects they've worked on as a company.

"This board is the most special one so far, to me," said Scully. "Naragansett has always been my favorite beer. And it was my dad's favorite beer. We always had 'Gansetts in the house, so this kind of like a shout-out and testament to him, too."

In fact, the inspiration for the collaboration came about when he and his friends came back from San Diego with a craving for an ice-cold 'Gansett. 

Wanting to proclaim their affection for their beer of choice, Scully and his friends put together a Youtube video announcing that their skateboard company officially endorsed Narragansett, and the short commercial soon caught the attention of the brewing company.

A relationship was formed, and now after months of work Tasty Skateboards will be unveiling a limited run deck with artwork that further celebrates their favorite beer.

"It's awesome," said Jim Crooks, V.P. of Sales and Marketing for Narragansett. "A lot of the folks that are going to get excited about these decks, they're our heart and soul. They're the life-blood of the brand, so it's exciting to see people who enjoy the brand enough to want to make it part of their art and culture. So we're really excited about it."

The collaboration means a lot to Scully as well, who began Tasty Skateboards after doing a school project exploring what it would take to start a business.

"We've been a company for eight years now, it's a trip," said Scully. Yet though he's passionate about it, he said that from the beginning Tasty wasn't about making money as much as a way to "say what we wanted to say, and do what we wanted to do." 

The Narragansett artwork was created by friend and Tasty co-owner, Jimmy Russell, who along with Scully and Worcester artist Mike Leslie have been designing boards for the past seven years.

"Both Jimmy and I are very likeminded," said Scully. "We hated what we saw in most skateboard graphics, which were just logo boards. We decided we wanted to do something different."

In fact, much of the early artwork was very controversial, said Scully.

"It was really in your face," he said. "Some of Jimmy's boards were so vulgar that they got us kicked out of a lot of skate shops, but I wasn't going to put a cap on his artistic inspiration. I didn't want to limit his creativity, so I put out whatever he did — even if I thought it was gross, I still put it out."

The city of Worcester often makes its way into the artwork as well.

"Mike Leslie always incorporates Worcester elements into his boards," said Scully. "We are what we surround ourselves with — the way we skate, the way we talk, and what we do is all because of where we grew up."

Even before Tasty was a company, it was a crew of friends skating together around Worcester.

"That's what skateboarding is, it's hanging out with your friends and having fun," said Scully. "You're skating with friends and they're hyping you up to push it to the next level, and you're hyping them up, getting them psyched."

The Tasty crew also has riders from neighboring towns such as Holden, including Jared Nylen and Nicole Brooks.

"I love it. It's sick to be part of the crew," said Brooks, who was also excited about the Narragansett deck. "It's great. It's their best board I think so far."

In order to celebrate the collaboration, Tasty Skateboards is inviting the community to join them for a release party from noon to 6 p.m. on Sat. Aug. 11 at The Trunk & Disorderly consignment shop at 122 Main Street, Worcester. 

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