If you follow the work of Douglas Miles Sr. and Douglas Miles Jr., you know it never stands still.
Miles Sr. is an artist, photographer, curator, writer, muralist, public speaker, director and founder of Apache Skateboards. His son, Miles Jr., is a professional skateboarder, filmmaker and photographer. Together, their creative output feels constant: evolving, expanding and refusing to slow down. Nearly 25 years old, Apache Skateboards, their skate company based on the San Carlos Apache Nation, is an extension of that father-son momentum.
Their latest undertaking brought that energy into downtown Phoenix, where Apache Skateboards just completed the curation of a sixweek immersive art installation and experience in the Roosevelt Row Arts District. At the corner of Roosevelt and Central, six-foot-tall photographic prints depicting life in San Carlos wrapped around the building’s windows, facing both streets. The installation, titled “Apache World,” was not only a gallery, it was a residency, a pop-up store, a gathering space and a cultural statement.
Miles Jr. described it as an invitation into their creative world.
Inside, visitors found fine art, skate demos, live artmaking, fashion shows, vintage apparel, skatewear and streetwear, as well as Miles Jr.’s photography installation. Several rooms displayed his portraits and skate photography, images that blend the textures, contrasts and quiet beauty and richness of everyday life in San Carlos. The work celebrates Apache skate culture and community, capturing moments that might otherwise go unseen.
Among the prints facing the busy streets was a simple but powerful declaration: “Apache kids can do anything.”
That message sits at the heart of the brand.
“Apache Skateboards really is about having a platform to promote success to young Native and Apache kids everywhere,” Miles Sr. says. “Being in a large space like that in downtown Phoenix, on Central Avenue in Roosevelt, is really just an extension of that, because I want Apache kids, Apache people and Native kids to see us in that space.”
For Miles Sr., visibility matters. So does affirmation.
“Apache kids need to be told that you can do anything,” he says. “If you want to be an astronaut, you can do it. If you want to be an artist, you can do it. If you want to be a designer, a TV producer or a film producer, you can do it.”
But the message is also about cultivating Apache pride, among Apaches and beyond.
“Apache Skateboards, even though it is founded here in San Carlos and definitely inspired by Apache history and people, I feel that Apache Skateboards is also for everyone,” he adds. “Everyone should be proud of Apache people. Everyone should be proud of the history of Apache people in America. Everyone should know about Apache history in America.”
Alongside Miles Jr.’s photography, the exhibition showcased the layered visual world of his father.
Miles Sr.’s work fuses pop art with fine art, though it resists easy categorization. Electric colors and bold lines intersect with imagery drawn from historic blackand-white photographs. Whether depicting historic figures or everyday Apaches, his work conveys strength, resilience and presence.
His artistic ingenuity extends to his choice in canvas.
Old car hoods, vintage suitcases, coats and jackets become canvases. Rusted metal signs are among his favorites. The approach grew from necessity.
“I don’t live close to an art supply store, so I learned to improvise. And part of that was finding and painting whatever I could get my hands on. If it was an old suitcase or an old car hood or an old jacket, then that’s what I was going to paint on,” he says. “The elites and academics call it found object art. I call it necessity. The elites call it fashion, and I call it survival.”
Those suitcases, coats and jackets were integrated into the Apache World displays, alongside apparel and skate gear, including shoes from the etnies x Apache collection.
That collaboration with renowned skate brand etnies culminated last fall in a limited-edition release, years in the making. Miles Jr. selected the shoe styles, while Miles Sr. provided hand-drawn designs, including custom tongue labels and mountain designs and stitching that pay tribute to Apache heritage.
Like much of their work, the project bridges skate culture and Apache culture.
Apache World itself began modestly. Miles Sr. originally envisioned it as a two-day pop-up. He approached Dorina Bustamante of True North Studio, which operates the space — formerly a luxury retail store — about activating the empty storefront.
After seeing the installation, the space’s operators encouraged them to stay. The pop-up became a sixweek endeavor, concluding Jan. 30 with a closing fashion show featuring RAID by Joanne Miles-Long alongside Apache Skateboards streetwear and vintage pieces by Miles Sr.
Meanwhile, Miles Sr.’s eight-month exhibition “Always & Forever” at the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe just ended last week. It showcased large paintings and installations along with more than two decades of Apache Skateboards deck art.
As Apache Skateboards and its Apache Skate Team continues to curate art shows across the country and work in the community, give skating demonstrations, and organize skateboard contests and concerts, the company underscores the reach of a brand rooted in San Carlos but resonating far beyond it.
Looking to the future, Miles Sr. foresees Apache Skateboards bringing Apache World to other spaces.
“The brand is really about how a community survives,” Miles Sr. says. “How a community has always survived and fought and lived through oppression, and could still overcome, and could still flourish, and still could become a major player in a region like this.”
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