Levi’s® Station To Station Tour Hits The Twin Cities With Producer Yung Skeeter

This content was created in partnership with Levi’s®.

The change was swift and rapid: what earlier was a quiet, historical site — the Union train depot in St. Paul, Minnesota — was now transformed into a bustling hub for artistic expression and inquiry. Senses were struck; synapses sent firing: Station To Station, a public art project made possible by the Levi’s® brand, and organized by artist Doug Aitken, rolled into town on September 12 in the Twin Cities. They arrived via the Levi’s® train – a traveling kinetic light sculpture broadcasting visionary experiences across the globe: elite members of various artistic disciplines, representing the worlds of art, music, food, literature and film, touching down on the fourth stop of the three-week train tour.

From stupefyingly beautiful performances by musical masterminds Patti Smith, Eleanor Friedberger and No Age, to mind-bending video installations and experiential encounters of inspired expression in the bountiful yurts located in and around the depot, STS offered up a challenge to those in attendance: are you ready to make your mark on the world? Few exhibited that mindset like Yung Skeeter. The DJ/producer, who now works alongside Katy Perry, Azealia Banks and a host of other A-list artists, has carved out his own path: he went from basement dreamer in Iowa to LA-living beatmaker and artistic confidante to the stars. At SpinMedia and Levi’s® collaborative activation, Skeeter relished the opportunity to pass on his time-tested knowledge. The goal of the collaborative activation? Fostering a shared spirit and inspiring others to #MakeOurMark.

There Skeeter was, waxing poetic to eager attendees relishing the opportunity to soak up the DJ’s hard-earned wisdom. They happily took his advice and soon were creating and curating their own playlists on iPads; they quickly blasted their creations out to the world. Skeeter told Idolator an unrelenting DIY spirit bred his self-motivated journey. “I quickly realized people all over the world are making music by themselves,” he said. Photographer and acclaimed music video director Rony Alwin was also onhand to capture critical moments of self-empowerment and expression at his famed photo booth. Like Skeeter, he draws inspiration from his individually charged artistic voyage. “My mother used to take me on these family vacations and I was the official photographer,” he recalled. “I just kept taking pictures and suddenly won a couple contests. It totally changed my whole perspective.”

Steps away, in the wood-adorned Levi’s® yurt, the spirit of STS was also in full force: artisans and clothiers were hand-stitching and weaving denim jackets as fascinated onlookers gazed in, watching as creativity was brought to life in real-time. Onlookers were encouraged to not only observe, but to also take part in the two-way creative chain: they visited Levi’s® digital destination at levi.com/makeourmark and interacted with a slew of cultural genres, uploading their own personal recollections of that moment when they make their individual creative imprint on the world.

When the train boarded at night’s end, artists, dreamers and creators ready to move on to their next stop, it was clear their work had been done. For an empowering, all-encompassing evening in St. Paul, Station to Station, a public art project made possible by the Levi’s® brand, fostered the spirit of creativity. Self-expression and the message to make our mark shined through.

To continue the spirit of collaboration and extend the experience beyond the nine station stops, Levi’s has created a digital destination to build on the creative energy coming out of these STS events. Visit levi.com/makeourmark to collaborate, share your inspirations and explore the projects.