SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco has long been a mecca for skateboarders, with the Embarcadero and other downtown spots serving as just a few must-visit destinations for skaters from around the globe. The upcoming exhibition at San Francisco Main Library, Skateboarding San Francisco: Concrete, Community, Continuity, spans 50 years—from 1975 to 2025—and celebrates the unique urban features that make the city so skateable, including its iconic concrete ledges and epic hills.

Much of skateboarding’s 21st-century appeal—embracing diverse communities, creative approaches to the built environment, music, fashion, slang, trick choice and style—originates from San Francisco. This exhibition explores how a local activity has made a global impact, reinforcing the City’s status as a lodestar for skateboarders worldwide.

“San Francisco is and has always been the most intense terrain and spectacular backdrop for skateboarding in the world,” said Ted Barrow, art historian and exhibition co-curator. “From long-standing magazines like Thrasher and companies like Deluxe to shops like FTC that have fused generations of skateboarders to this profoundly skateable City itself, this is our Mecca. Skateboarding San Francisco acknowledges past innovators and celebrates contemporary communities who have inspired the world. Skateboarding never left San Francisco, and the City as a whole is better for it.”

Featured in the exhibition will be artworks related to skateboarding, skate magazines, archival photographs, memorable skate videos and urban detritus from iconic skate spots like the Embarcadero ribbon and Hubba Hideout. Interviews with world-renowned locals and legendary skateboarders will also be part of the showcase. The exhibition highlights how challenges in the landscape are seen as open invitations, surfaces beckon play and local lore is embedded in the City’s characteristic concrete architecture.

“As a lifelong skateboarder—someone who counted this as a core part of my identity as a young person—I'm absolutely thrilled that the Library is shining a spotlight on the sport's underground history in San Francisco. This is urban culture at its finest, showcasing San Francisco’s role as a mecca for street skating, spawning wholesale movements in music, art and community,” said Michael Lambert, City Librarian. 

In addition, satellite displays showcasing urban culture from the Library’s storied collections and work by local artists will be installed throughout the Main: zines from the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center and Small Book Arts Collection, issues of Thrasher Magazine, hand-lettered signs by Margaret Kilgallen, Karl Watson’s My First Skateboard and hand-painted skate decks by Felicia Gabaldon.

“San Francisco Public Library exhibitions and corresponding programs highlight the rich and cutting-edge stories that define the Bay Area, like skateboarding and underground art movements. Through these initiatives, we strive to ensure the arts are accessible to all, connect disciplines and make the library an artful destination,” said Allison Wyckoff, Director of Exhibitions.

Until the 1990s, skateboarding was often perceived as a suburban, niche activity in Southern California, likened to surfing on sidewalks. Today, it has surged into a global, urban youth culture phenomenon. Defying easy definition and traditional classifications, skateboarding is both a sport now showcased at the Olympics and an underground subculture. It serves as a means of connection among skaters and a pathway for self-discovery through movement in space.

The exhibition Skateboarding San Francisco also provides an additional nearby destination for skaters visiting the upgraded UN Skate Plaza, slated to debut at a kickoff event on Saturday, February 15. A project of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, The Skatepark Project and Converse, this expansion of the current skating area is fueling the revitalization of the Civic Center area and features three unique, skateable geometric art pieces being developed by Olympic skateboarder, MIT-trained architect and Converse CONs skate rider Alexis Sablone.

"Skateboarding is about creativity, resilience and making the most of the urban landscape—values that are deeply embedded in San Francisco’s DNA,” said San Francisco Recreation and Park Department General Manager Phil Ginsburg. “The Skateboarding San Francisco exhibition at the Library and the expansion of the UN Skate Plaza are two sides of the same coin: celebrating a movement that has transformed our streets into canvases, training grounds and gathering spaces. With the revitalization of Civic Center, we’re ensuring skateboarding continues to thrive here.”

Join us in celebrating the rich history and cultural significance of skateboarding in San Francisco, where the spirit of the sport continues to inspire and connect generations of skaters. Events will be taking place throughout the spring and summer in conjunction with the exhibition, including related film screenings, music shows, conversations with professional skateboarders and much more.

Exhibit: Skateboarding San Francisco: Concrete, Community, Continuity – Feb. 13–July 6, 2025. Main Library, Jewett Gallery, Lower Level

FEATURED EVENTS

Opening Reception – Feb. 13, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

Ted Talks Gallery Tours – Feb. 15, April 12, June 14,12–1 p.m.

Skateboarding art historian Ted Barrow walks visitors through the exhibition, Skateboarding San Francisco: Concrete, Community, Continuity, showing how the City’s unique terrain has become iconic to skateboarding. Combining archival photos from the library’s own History Center with historic skate photos, videos and material artifacts, Barrow shares the impact of skateboarding in San Francisco and its reach across the globe.

Tours begin in the Jewett Gallery on the Lower Level of the Main. The April 12 and June 14 Ted Talks Gallery Tours will meet inside the Library and move outside into the neighborhood so please dress for the weather.  

Skate, Rock, Roll, Read Fulton Activation – Feb. 22 and March 22, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. and April 26, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.

Fulton Street becomes a hub of activation—live performances, interactive hands-on creative activities and community-based resources for youth and families—with this year’s Skate, Rock, Roll, Read with The SFUSD Youth Arts Festival in partnership with Tiratana Espiritu Productions. Participate in skateboarding lessons, designing skate sneakers and creating signature skateboard deck designs, and be part of the outdoor performance space in the heart of Civic Center!

OTHER RELATED EVENTS

Film Screenings – Every Thursday in March, 12 p.m., Main Library, Koret Auditorium    

Street Versed: Multidisciplinary Poetry and Storytelling Hosted by José Vadi – April 24, 6–7:30 p.m., Main Library, Koret Auditorium