JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UPDATE: Mystery solved! Artist who created skateboard bought at a Jacksonville Beach pawn shop found
A Jacksonville man is on the hunt and the community is joining him to find the person who hand designed a skateboard found at a Jacksonville Beach pawn shop. The artist has yet to be found and many calling it a local Jacksonville mystery.
"Skaters definitely have a rich history of adorning their skateboards with personal attributes and things like that," Local artisan and Bespoke House founder Michael Armanno said. "The vibrant colors, the detailed work that really tells us that someone poured their heart and soul into this project."
Jacksonville artisans are calling the design on this skateboard 'a work of art.' The search for the artist continues but next to the detail of the drawing is a signature, 'The Jax Beach Ripper.'
"We're not sure if that would be the artisans name, or it could be in fact, just be a local moniker for someone that serves a skateboard. It is a very interesting situation, because we're trying to find little notes within that signature, such as some people have pointed out a small AC, which could be the initials of the artists. So those are the little things that we're trying to home in on to help us find that creator," Armanno said.
Local artisans and founders of BeSpoke House Michael Armanno and Joshua Weber didn't find the skateboard, but joined in to help Matt Southworth find the artist.
Matt Southworth told First Coast News a few weeks ago, he went to Beaches Pawn and Jewelry in Jacksonville Beach on his lunch break and saw the skateboard in the corner of the store. He says he originally bought it for decoration but says there was so much handwritten work put into it, he wanted to give it back as a gift.
The pawn shop was closed Thursday night when we drove by. Southworth says the shop hasn't given him any information about who sold the skateboard to the shop. So, Southworth posted on social media asking the community for help.
"We thought if anyone can find the artists, it's going to be the community of artists," Armanno said.
BeSpoke House is a space where local artisans go to work together. Armanno says they want to offer a space to the artist to showcase their art if found.
"This may be an opportunity to uplift and jumpstart a creative career, it very well could be a young person or someone that may not consider themselves an artist. But if we can give them the voice, if we can show them to support that we are here to support the creative arts in Jacksonville, then I think that is the message that we want to spend send out there," Armanno said.
If you know who designed the skateboard, you're encouraged to email Matt Southworth at mattsouth912@gmail.com.