All Pics and Story by Nick Kaufman

There are times when you have an idea that just doesn't pan out, and then there are
times when everything comes together and it all works perfectly. Tim Martinez's
concept of making a skate shop community art show is excellent example of an idea gone perfectly right.
It was clear that shops sunk their hearts and souls into their allotted 10'x13' space. Valsurf had hand painted ramps and
mix of photography and paintings for your viewing pleasure. Pharmacy's display of morbid skate deck art added the right
mix of macabe to the show. One Way Boardshop displayed an impressive mix of photography and deck art. Liberty also had
a fantastic mix of media to feast your eyes on, Second Nature Skate Shop from NYC made the trek out here just for the love
of the game. Shops like Varial, Non Factory, and United also brought some awesome stuff to make the space something
sweet to look at. The guys from Empire and Maintain had live painting going on all night long.
Lance Mountain and Brian Lotti, both showed up with their own style of art. Brian Lotti entertained the crowd by reading skate
influenced poetry from his laptop and having his film "1st and Hope" loop in one of the rooms. It's a great film and I would recommend
that anyone who loves skateboarding check it out. Lance graced the crowd with his pro models from the old Powell years coupled with
the original artwork for each of them. Unfortunately, by the end of the night, some disrespecting asshole had stolen all of Lance's
decks off the wall. Lance Mountain is a legend as well as one of the nicest humans I've ever met. If anyone has any info regarding this,
please come forward and help our life long hero get back what's his. Great bands and DJ's kept our ears as interested as our eyes all
night long. Ninja Academy, The Dank, Slightly Evil, New No.2,
Vesuvia Sonic, Model Airplanes, and Brevi, the kick ass female MC,
DJ VDubz, DJ Instro-mental, DJ King J, DJ Abses made the haul to
Hanger 1018, in the bowels of downtown Los Angeles. Hopefully this is the first of many
more skate shop community art shows.