Creatures of the Street is a multimedia exhibition that showcases the visual culture of the Medicine Hat Skateboard Association, the creative talents of the group and the initiatives they pursue to enrich the local community and beyond.

Skateboarders often get a bad reputation. Menaces to society, rebellious, nuisances. In a Medicine Hat News article from 1992, a city councillor was quoted calling them “creatures of the street.”1 In 2004, the Medicine Hat Skateboard Association (MHSA) was formed in response to a bylaw that prohibits skateboarding downtown. Since then, members have been doing everything they can to alter the misguided perception of the sport. They are hoping that the work they’ve done over the years will soon lead to the bylaw’s removal.

Creatures of the Street is a multimedia exhibition that showcases the visual culture of the MHSA, the creative talents of the group and the initiatives they pursue to enrich the local community and beyond. The exhibition includes a display of posters from the annual “Beat the Heat” skate competition, custom deck art by MHSA members, a video compilation featuring local boarders and a collage of newspaper articles highlighting the group’s positive impact.

Creatures of the Street reaffirms that members of the MHSA are so much more than that. They are leaders, volunteers, athletes and artists committed to shining a light wherever they go.

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