GREAT SURFBOARD PAINT OFF
Artists offer new paint job on surfboards for charity donation
BY DAN PARKER SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

WADE KONIAKOWSKY

Old surfboards will become new artworks at The Great Surfboard Paint Off on Saturday, July 7, at Port A Surf Co.

Surf artists John Olvey of Corpus Christi and Wade Koniakowsky will paint designs on any boards brought to them at the surf shop at 1023 State Hwy. 361 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The charge is a minimum of $10, all of which will go to the non-profit Coastal Bend chapter of the Surfrider Foundation - an organization that looks after surfers' interests including beach access and water quality.

"This is a really fun way to raise money and awareness to protect our ocean environment," said Cliff Schlabach, a Corpus Christi resident, Surfrider member and longtime surfer of Port Aransas waves. "I'm looking forward to bringing in my old board. When John and Wade finish with it, I'll be stylin.' "

Koniakowsky and Olvey are well-known in the Coastal Bend surfing community and beyond.

Koniakowsky is a surfer who grew up in Corpus Christi and now lives in Southern California, where he runs an art gallery that sells his work, much of which is surfinginspired.

JOHN OLVEY

Olvey is a Corpus Christi resident and artist who has nabbed several big surf competition honors. He was Texas state champion in the kneeboard and senior longboard divisions in 1995. He was state champion in the senior longboard division in 1998.

Surfboards still can be ridden after they're painted.