Open Call for Surf Craft
Design Proposals
Shaping, Design, Culture
Great Lakes surfing is shaped by attitudes toward the lakes, a history of industrialization, property laws, land access, and the seasons. How do these differences impact the way surf craft are designed and made?
Celebrating the design and craft of shapers in the Great Lakes region.
Great Lakes Surf Craft is a project documenting the craft and design of surfboards around lakes Michigan, Superior, Erie, Ontario, and Huron. We’re asking shapers for project proposals–to design and build the ideal lake surfing craft. Selected projects will be funded, documented in a book, and shown in a public exhibition.
Propose your project.
We are currently accepting proposals for surf craft projects that push past formal, construction, and material norms in search of the ideal lake surf craft. Click below to read about project guidelines and support. A limited number of projects will be selected to receive support.
Follow the project.
Our project kicked off in the summer of ‘22. Click below to see what we’ve done and to follow along as the project unfolds.
Show your support.
Great Lakes Surf Craft Project is supported by a creative grant from the University of Illinois at Chicago and by wave lovers around the lakes. If you would like to support the work we are doing, please join our fund raising campaign here. Funding will support research and development for book and exhibition.
© Photography by Ben Sass
© 2023 Great Lakes Surf Craft
