Art To Activism: Alishon Kelly's Art Gets Made Into Rad Boards

From hanging out in art rooms in a high school to having your own work featured on personalized skateboards across your city, this is Alishon Kelly.

The 17-year-old activist and artist from Missoula, a city located in the scenic state of Montana, Kelly uses her talents to push for more indigenous representation in the skate community. 

Kelly's art was spotted on the off chance by the owner of her local skate shop, Chris Bacon, from the Board of Missoula, who took an interest in what she created. Kelly's work has a lot of inspiration from her mother and heritage of being affiliated with the Blackfeet nation and the Pend d'Oreille indigenous peoples. 

Originally Kelly is from the Flathead Reservation but was always found shredding in Missoula as the skate community was larger there.

Mending both her passion for skating with being a voice for her community, Bacon decided to allow Kelly to design boards, stickers, shirts, and other merchandise found in the Board of Missoula. 

"In Native communities, art and activism are things that go directly hand in hand with each other," said Kelly.

Kelly continues to inspire her community as she partakes in working alongside indigenous nonprofit organizations; her creativity stems from a place of true passion and can be seen in her work. 

Next, Giant skate mural rolls onto the Moore Park skate bowl