Thrasher Magazine

Celebrating 30 years, Richmond VA’s Venue Skateboards anniversary party went off. When Maury and Kim Blankinship opened Backdoor back in ‘94, they were Richmond’s first and only skateshop—later changing the name to Dominion Skateboards, and finally, Venue Skateboards in 2011. They’ve been on the same street in Carytown throughout. Venue is a major hub of the VA and East Coast skate scene, supporting notable skaters Gilbert Crockett, Caleb McNeely, Jon Rowe, Pat Burke, Dane Barker, Eric Valladares, Kolby Hayes, Bobby Stewart and Peter Hackett. If you’ve been through Richmond, chances are you’ve stopped by the shop. And if you haven’t yet, now you know where to go. Check the scene from their big night. —Jonathan Mehring

Starting off strong! Multiple generations of Venue’s tight-knit team still hang together after all the years

Outside, local celeb Pat Burke nosegrinds the fatbar during the best-trick contest

Followed up by Charlottesville up-and-comer Josh Herrmann with an overcrooks the fatty

Crowd? Wild!

Dominic Ribock back Smiths for the mobile kitchen chicken

Couldn't miss it, Gilbert Crockett and Drew Compton had to come peep the session

Kicker to can? No parking-lot jam is complete without it. Jamal Jones, varial heelflips for days

Will George got a classy backside flip

Crowd? Pleased! Just look at Sean Osmond and Elijah Thompson

Post head injury, Andreas Alvarez is still killin’ it! Back heel with the bucket

And to close us out, Eric Valladares frontside flips, first try. Now that skating’s outta the way, let’s see the locals that made it out

Guaranteed to see Heather Smart and Travis “One Eye Wonder” Pulley

Mixin' signs, but always stoked, we got Liam Hardman, Sean Biacan, Will Polly, Thomas Goldman, Caleb McNeely, Charlie Juers and Zaki Young. It's cold out here though

That's better. Everyone crowded inside to see the the gallery and warm up with drinks

You know Gil had to sign some decks for the kids

First looks at the night's Krooked X Venue collab gear. Evan Gabriel, guest of honor Caleb McNeely, Ty Beall and Jon Rowe

Gil and Bruce Vlk got love for the plazas

Bust Crew’s masterlensman Will Rosenstock and Caleb, hopefully plotting their next clip

Hey, boys! Marshall Hawthorne, Ben Samuels, Pat Yagow and master concreter Chris Burke

DC, represent! We got Carlos “Pooch” Kenner, Mark Davis and Kevin O’Dell in the building

Wholesome duo, Bobby and Stephanie Stewart

Caught Josh Owens by surprise, but Jessie Kelly and Stan Forsack were ready

Quality crew, Mike Pound, Eric Collins and Erin Waldner

I got Matt Reamer pose with video guy Josh Swyers. Alright, back to work

Handsome and hand tatted, Jon Rowe and Cory Bittle

Matt Kauchak, Pat Yagow, and Jordan Bradshaw display the many way a man can style his facial hair

Cheers, Sonny Fleming and Timmy Rockovich 

Chris and Ally Burke

Mike Butler heard Dylan Messer's been workin' out. A quick hug confirmed it

Lotta tan-and-blue matching going on here. Wonder if Brad Bacon, Ryan Coleman and Brooks Alley noticed

Whitney Kuachak and Almitra Corey were stoked on the prints

While Will Polly and Griffin Blankinship had to check the decks

Victor Kuye, Zack Kongolo, Mohamed Nour and Ike Onwuka in front of the high-art prints

Good people, Girard “Junior” Hogue and Adelle Blankinship

Finally! Had to stop to get Henry Fletcher and the couple we wouldn't be here without: Venue owners Kim and Maury Blankinship

Camera nerds Thomas Goldman, Josh Swyers, Jonathan Mehring and Nick Ghobashi

Pulaski Pooch had to stay close to his spot with Bruce Vlk and Rob Lee

Zander and Summer Moehling made it out, too

Before Caleb's new part dropped, we saw three decades of shop videos playing simultaneously on different screens—the catalog is stacked!

Old shop team photos, the crowd loved it

What about art?

There was tons of it! Let’s start to check the exhibition walls with Danny Howard’s work

Then we got pieces by Adelle Blankinship

Eric Bielefeldt's work was poppin'

On a board or in a frame, Yagow’s work is always a pleasure to see

Prints?! Yeah, we got 'em on the penultimate display by Nick Ghobashi

And finally, let's go out with Thomas Goldman’s ultra-packed section

You saw one already, but check the whole spread. Head in to grab one from this epic collab

And let’s go out with with our dear friend One Eye Wonder living up to his name


Need a vid to sweeten the deal? We got you here with this recap from Josh Swyers. Congratulations again to Venue and the whole RVA scene!