Hi! My name is Dan Kohout and it's my dream to build a platform to provide income for starving artists. Think of it like an Etsy for skaters. The story of Exodus Longboards began with a simple idea to sell hand painted longboard decks in my hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado. It really just started as a hobby of mine to make longboards for friends and co-workers that they could use to tell the world "this is who I am". But I realized I wanted to make this a business that would be able to effect the whole world, not just a few people. That's why I created this business. If you would like to read a full bio, you can read about me here.
The Starving Artists Epidemic
A few months before I decided to launch, I was having a conversation with someone about the huge need for patrons of the arts on a global scale. Talented artists in many countries are devalued and forced to work unfulfilling jobs while their creativity gets suppressed and forgotten. In places such as Cambodia, becoming an artist is actually an embarrassment to your family. Even here in America, we've coined the term "starving artist" because of the struggle it takes to make it a career. This problem can be fixed with more companies like mine who rise up to empower these individuals and give them a source of income to help support them.
How it works:
Artists who sign on with us send my company designs that we then manufacture on to a longboard and sell. The artists then get a percentage of every sale we make with their art on it.
The goal is to eventually have an artist or two from almost every country, with their own unique style and cultural twist. As a customer this means you're getting a longboard with a story behind it, a piece of art that has been crafted by a culture completely different from your own. Do you want a longboard with a mandala on it from a painter in Sudan? How about an impressionist piece from Russia?
Why Longboards?
If we are going to recover some of the value that's been lost within the arts, it starts with the next generation. Longboarding has been increasing in popularity over the last 20 years, and more and more young people own one for transportation or recreation.
These days it's uncommon for anyone under the age of 20 to buy or even afford a piece of fine art. But if we put the art on something practical and usable... that changes things.
The World Changer Collection
One art piece I am especially proud of introducing is the "Justice Deck" (shown below), a longboard designed to spread awareness of human trafficking!
My hope is to have a specific longboard collection in our inventory with art dedicated to specific causes such as this one. Artists will have the opportunity to make a piece for an issue they care about and allow that money to be donated to an organization of their choice.
Text reads: "I fight for a world without slavery."
Rope and hands artwork- done by one of our team artists.
The profits from this design will be donated to Trafficking 911 .
Meet the artists!
Kevin Carden (Digital Artist)
My name is Kevin Carden and I have been involved with photography in some format for almost 15 years. However in the last 8 years I have really enjoyed using my photography with the combination of photoshop to create surreal and conceptual artwork. My personal faith is very important to me, and I love creating images that are both creative and display a deep meaning that gives glory to God. My wife and my children also have been a great help, and they are always willing to help with props or modeling or even coming up with new designs. Every day I am trying to come up with new projects and create artwork that has a supernatural or fantastical theme, but above all, my goal is to craft images that share the love and grace and mercy of our wonderful Creator.
Check out the longboards with his art here. See his entire photoshop collection here.
Kari Roehrkasse (Illustration Artist)
Makari Roehrkasse was raised in Fort Collins, Colorado and is currently living and working out of Savannah, Georgia. She pursued an Animal Science degree from the University of Wyoming for two years before changing course to seek a career in art. She is currently pursuing her BFA in Illustration with a concentration in Animated Illustration and Publication Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Makari’s artistic style is expressive and detailed; a lot of her work focuses on portraits and figures, capturing raw human emotion. She creates organic forms with strong chiaroscuro and the use of line in her art. She aspires to comment on the broken human condition and the genuine desire in everybody to feel whole and valued.
See her full gallery here and follow her on instagram.
We have so much more to come! You can help us get there by supporting us or spreading the word via word of mouth/facebook/instagram.
