FTC Skate Shop (For the Culture), recently celebrated 40 years of culture and community with an art show at Sitting Room Gallery in Lower Manhattan. The influential San Francisco skate shop, started by Kent Uyehara in 1986, expanded to New York City nearly three years ago and also has a location in Tokyo, Japan. The shop has long been central to the development of skateboarding and skateboard culture, providing a hub for some of the city’s most influential skaters like Chico Brenes and Mike Carroll (also a founder of Girl Skateboards) to network and showcase their unique voices.
Art, fashion, and music have long run concurrently with skateboard culture, each influencing the other. This notion was never more apparent than at the FTC art show in NNYC, which featured works by skaters, monumental filmmakers and photographers, painters, and beyond.
The multimedia showcase included contributions from artists like Bobby Puleo and Lee Smith, who were featured in FTC’s 1996 video “Penal Code”; director Jacob Rosenberg, who produced videos like Plan B’s “Secondhand Smoke” and “Virtual Reality,” seminal works in skate history; Patrick O’Dell, who created the popular documentary series “Epicly Later’d”; and T. Eric Monroe, who is responsible for some of the most iconic imagery in the history of hip-hop. Monroe credits skateboarding as the catalyst that launched his successful career, shooting hip-hop legends including Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Tupac Shakur.
T. Eric Monroe with pictures he took of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Tupac, Biggie Smalls, and Little Caesar at FTC’s art show on June 12. The store celebrated 40 years of culture and community with an art show at Sitting Room Gallery. (Johnny Knollwood) 
T. Eric Monroe with pictures he took of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Tupac, Biggie Smalls, and Little Caesar at FTC’s art show on June 12. The store celebrated 40 years of culture and community with an art show at Sitting Room Gallery. 
FTC 
FTC celebrated 40 years of culture and community with an art show at Sitting Room Gallery on June 12. 
FTC celebrated 40 years of culture and community with an art show at Sitting Room Gallery on June 12.
“I’ve skated since I was 16, I grew up in the Bones Brigade Era. When I first heard of the Brooklyn Banks, I’d come to the city and take pictures — the first picture I ever got published was the first girl who ever won a trophy at the Brooklyn Banks that was published in Thrasher [Magazine] when I was 17,” Monroe told AmNews in an onsite interview at the gallery. “Skateboarding provided that first opportunity.”
Monroe took time to reflect on FTC’s legacy and influence over the last four decades. “FTC has always been this home ground for skateboarding in SF. What I always loved about FTC was when guys from NJ/NYC went out to SF, Kent and the FTC people always took care of them – then you’d see their pictures in Thrasher with FTC in the background. It was like this mecca in SF for me that was like this beautiful oasis and always had this good vibe about it. So when it came to New York, I was amazed – I just felt this love bubble coming to NYC.” On display at the show, Monroe showcased a shot of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, along with one of Tupac, Biggie, and Little Caesar “showing their friendship,” and rocking “I’m a Bad Boy,” t-shirts together.
The skate community was out in full swing, with dozens in attendance taking in art, and celebrating with each other. You can visit FTC in NYC at 216. Avenue A, and stay up to date with the shop on Instagram at @FTCNewYork.
