ICONIC URBAN ART PIONEER PHASE 2 COLLABORATES WITH HAROLD HUNTER FOUNDATION ON LIMITED-EDITION SKATEBOARD DECK

The Harold Hunter Foundation is proud to announce it has teamed up with iconic urban art pioneer PHASE 2 on an exclusive artist series skateboard deck that will be available in limited quantities at select retailers and galleries starting October 1, 2019.
 
Only 100 hand-numbered decks are available. Manufactured by Long Island’s Chapman Skateboards, each screen-printed collector’s deck features PHASE 2’s vibrant collage-style artwork inspired by legendary skateboarder Harold Hunter and the city that fueled his many creative pursuits.
 
“We’re excited to be working with PHASE 2 on this project because he’s one of New York’s original style writers whose work helped shape a creative movement that’s inspired generations of artists around the world for the past forty years,” says Jessica Forsyth, Harold Hunter Foundation Co-Founder and Executive Director.
 
The limited-edition Harold Hunter Foundation x PHASE 2 collaborative decks are a philanthropic effort with 40% of proceeds donated to the foundation. Coinciding with the deck release, PHASE 2’s original hand-cut work-of-art that the deck graphics are based on is available for purchase exclusively at ACA Galleries 1932 located at 529 West 20th Street in Manhattan.
 
As a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Harold Hunter Foundation relies on financial support from the skate community and related outlets to achieve its mission of using skateboarding as a vehicle to provide underserved youth with valuable life experiences that nurture individual creativity, resourcefulness and the development of life skills. Charitable partnerships like PHASE 2 are vital to the long-term success of the foundation.
 
“When we were kids, we used to make skateboards with roller skates and 2x4s and ride on them around the block. As an art piece, I like the surface and shape of the pro boards,” says cultural icon PHASE 2. “With respect to Harold, who I knew through Zoo York in the ‘90s, I’ve been creating art in his honor since his passing. It’s super fitting to get this particular effort out to the masses not only as a tribute to him, but keeping his legacy alive as one of those super special and inspirational skaters of that time, for all time—one who any youth that aspires to be ‘that next one’ should be aware of.”
 
Harold Hunter Foundation x PHASE 2 limited-edition decks are available at Chapman Skateboards, ACA Galleries 1932, El Señor, Art Apple NYC, Eye Shut Island, and Mantis Lifestore.

ABOUT PHASE 2:
Born and raised in the Bronx, PHASE 2 is a first-generation New York City style writer and a founding father/primary instigator of the basic and wildest typography styles in the subway art movement of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Many of the initial components he introduced to the culture have become staples in its format worldwide. His signature “party fliers” played an important role in the spread of hip-hop culture throughout NYC and beyond, and he is among the very first aerosol artists to exhibit in galleries spanning the globe. He also played an integral role in the early days of break dancing and was instrumental in the formation of one of the most prolific B-boy crews ever assembled, which he named The New York City Breakers. From hip-hop fashion to iconic logos, PHASE 2’s global impact remains a guiding light for new generations of artists. Today, he continues on an unconventional, socially conscious path using creativity as his vehicle.

On Sunday, September 22, the 13th Annual HHF Bridgerun will be held to raise money for HHF's Skate Camp Scholarship program. Participants are welcome to run, walk, skate or bike the 5-mile route.

Check-in starts at 4:30pm on the rooftop of New Design High School located at 350 Grand Street in Manhattan (a bag check will be available at check-in). The run starts at 5:30pm.
 
Click here to register for Sunday's fun-run and after-party. When you register and make a suggested donation, you'll reserve a special edition Nike Dri-FIT event t-shirt designed by artist Curtis Kulig featuring a photo by Davide Sorrenti.  T-shirts will be distributed at check-in based on advance registration.

The after-party will start at 7:00pm at the NYC Bridgerunners' HQ located at 67 Loisaida Avenue (Avenue C @ East 5th Street). Beer at the party will be provided by Radeberger Pilsner.

Photos courtesy of Paulsta Wong.

Informed by the results of HHF's groundbreaking 2016 needs assessment of more than 300 NYC skaters, the HHF Legacy Program was launched in 2018. It combines skateboarding activities with life skills, college and career exploration, and year-round psycho-social support.

The “secret sauce” to the Legacy Program is organic mentorship, which honors the culture of skateboarding by embracing the spirit of freedom, independence, creativity, and spontaneity, while also allowing for authentic mentorship relationships to develop and grow naturally. In this way, we are able to give our young people what they want (to be part of an authentic skateboarding community) along with what they need (age-appropriate developmental activities and trauma-sensitive support).

In 2019, the 2nd cohort of the HHF Legacy Program culminated with an annual trip to Woodward in August. Once again, a group of 40 NYC skaters were connected with 3 coach-mentors trained through the Up2Us Sports Coach Across America program for 7 months of weekly skate sessions, 10 life-skills workshops and enrichment activities.

HHF would like to acknowledge the support of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, Up2Us Sports, adidas Skateboarding, Sheckler Foundation, and Nike Global Impact for the grants, sponsorships, and in-kind donations that make this program possible. Thank you!

From July 7th-9th, HHF Legacy Program members Christian Alcantara and Jack Discon were two of just four NYC youth selected to fly to LA to participate in the first-annual Laureus Youth Leadership Summit, a conference dedicated to empowering young leaders and strengthening youth-serving programs.

"Sports brings everybody together no matter what nationality or social status," says Christian Alcantara. "If you play a sport, you're automatically a family with your teammates. That's what I really learned today and what I learn everyday when I skate."

Occurring the same week as the ESPYs and ESPN Humanitarian Awards, the Summit put youth voice at the forefront of the conversation as participants explored the role sport can play in building leaders. More than 200 athletes, executives, and young people from across the country shared their insights on how to best design programs that are informed by, and responsive to, the youth they serve. It was an extremely positive and rewarding experience for all involved.

"Being professional, how I carry myself, how I stand up and public speak, how I introduce myself to people... It's just an all-around life-changing experience," says Jack Discon about attending the conference.

Laureus Foundation, now HHF’s largest institutional supporter, recently provided HHF with a $40,000 capacity building grant to continue to refine and assess the design and impact of the Legacy Program and to support expansion of parallel fundraising efforts. HHF is honored and grateful to have the support of the Laureus Foundation.

To learn more about the Laureus Youth Leadership Summit, click here.

On July 17th, Beyond the Streets, the premier exhibition of graffiti and street art, hosted a charity event for the Harold Hunter Foundation at its Brooklyn event space. Hip hop artist Cam’ron emceed the event, which was attended by several hundred art lovers, skateboarders and HHF supporters.

Renowned skateboarder and artist Mark Gonzales created a line of limited edition, hand-painted basketballs specifically for the event. All proceeds from the sale of these one-of-a kind items supported HHF programming. Thanks, Gonz!

Beyond the Streets will remain open through September 29, 2019. Learn more and get tickets here. Photos courtesy of Angela Owens.

In late June, the Sheckler Foundation headed to Harlem to present the Harold Hunter Foundation with a $10,000 "Be the Change" grant. This was stop #3 of the Skate for a Cause Tour featuring Ryan Sheckler, Chaz Ortiz, Fabrizio Santos, Oakley, Red Bull and the extended HHF family and friends.

To learn more, please click here. Photos and video courtesy of the Sheckler Foundation.

The official HH Weekend recap video was filmed by HHF Filmer Project apprentices Muhammad Floyd, Gustavo Morla, Naquan Rollings, and AJ Prather along with mentors Ray Mendez and Mike Sassano, and edited by HHF Filmer Project mentor Andrey Piontkovski.

Another successful Harold Hunter Weekend went down from Thursday May 31 – Sunday June 2 in NYC. Many thanks to the support of presenting sponsor adidas Skateboarding and sponsors G-Shock, Zumiez, HUF, Zoo York, Skullcandy, Supreme, Dickies, Arizona, Labor, and KCDC, for an awesome line-up of 6 events over 4 days that raised more than $70,000 to support HHF programs for 2020.
 
The festivities took place across downtown New York City. Click here to check out Blair Alley’s coverage of the HH Day Skate Jam in TransWorld SKATEboarding.
 
This year’s Skate Industry Panel discussion hosted by G-Shock featured Leland Ware, Lee Smith, Leo Heinert, and German Nieves.
 
HHF once again subsidized entry fees for 21 local skaters to skate Boardr Am on Saturday. HHF Wildcard Division and Zumies Destroyer Award winner Jiro Platt will receive an all-expense paid trip to skate in the Empire Am in Montreal this summer.
 
The 13th annual Harold Hunter Day Skate Jam was held at LES skate park on Sunday afternoon. Winners of the Best Trick contests include:

G-Shock Wallride
1st Place - Brian O'Dwyer - Front Feeble
2nd Place - Greyson Beal - Kickflip Frontside Wallride
3rd Place - Brandon White - Blunt Nosegrab to Fakie

Adidas Cellar Door
1st Place - Greyson Beal - Kickflip Wallride 
2nd Place - Dylan Nieves - Frontside Wall Ride
3rd Place - Chirs Colbourn - Wallride shuvit 

Adidas Spine Ramp
1st Place - Chris Colbourn - Pop-shuvit nosegrind backside 180
2nd Place - Greyson Beal - Kickflilp Frontboard shuvit
3rd Place - Austin O'Brian - Kickflip Crook 
 
Zumiez Destroyer Award – Dylan Nieves
 
Keep scrolling to check out a bunch of photos from the weekend’s events.

​Photos by Muhammad Floyd and Bradley Afroilan

​Photos by Muhammad Floyd

​Photos by Chris McDonald

Photos by Cesar Chaplin

​Photos by Bradley Afroilan

​Photos by Los Estrada

​Photos by Gunars Elmuts

​Photos by Blair Alley

​Photos by Los Estrada

Before winning Thrasher Magazine’s 2018 Skater of the Year, releasing 2 full parts this past year (Supreme’s Blessed and “Killer”), and also landing the cover of Thrasher’s January 2019 issue, Tyshawn Jones was a HHF Woodward Scholarship Recipient back in 2011. (The youngest camper in HHF history). It’s been a big year for TJ, but skateboarding isn’t the only thing he’s pursuing. 3 months ago, he opened up the restaurant, Taste so Good (Make You Wanna Slap Your Mama) just around the corner from his childhood home and  his old school, I.S. 131 in the Bronx. Besides the restaurant being a shared dream of him and his mother, TJ also opened the restaurant to “give people fresh food, food that they don’t have” in a neighborhood filled with only fast food. At HHF, we’re proud of TJ and his profound accomplishments as a skater and now a community oriented restaurateur.

Check out New York Magazine's coverage of TJ's new restaurant here

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2018 has been a milestone year for the Harold Hunter Foundation. Not only did we host the best HH Weekend ever and send our largest group of 50 scholarship recipients, interns, youth chaperones, and mentors to Woodward skate camp for the 12th consecutive year, we also launched a new program - the HHF Legacy Program - which has the potential to be transformative in the lives of the young people it touches.

Click on the image above to watch a video recap of the Legacy Program and click on any of the links in the text above or below for more details on all of the exciting developments at HHF.  

Informed by the results of our groundbreaking 2016 needs assessment of more than 300 NYC skaters, the Legacy Program combines skateboarding activities with life skills, college and career exploration, and year-round psychosocial support.

The “secret sauce” to our program is organic mentorship, which honors the culture of skateboarding by embracing the spirit of freedom, independence, creativity, and spontaneity, while also allowing authentic mentorship relationships to develop and grow naturally. In this way, we are able to give our young people what they want (to be part of an authentic, skateboarding community) along with what they need (age-appropriate developmental activities and trauma-sensitive support). 

The Legacy Program has attracted overwhelming interest and support from the sports-based youth development community. The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and Up2Us Sports provided funding and in-kind support, respectively, allowing HHF to hire the coach/mentors who run the program and provide them with groundbreaking training. These partnerships also allowed HHF staff to participate in trainings and summits in Chicago, Los Angeles and Paris, exposing our work to national and international audiences.  We were also one of only twelve organizations in the country to receive a special $25,000 gift from NIKE, to recognize our work with the Latino community in commemoration of of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Most importantly, the program is deeply impacting our young people, as they have become part of a positive peer group where they receive guidance and support from credible messengers. Impact data found that 93% of our participants made gains in targeted social emotional learning outcomes, with the greatest gains in developing a sense of positive self-identity, enhancing social skills such as empathy, and expanding social capital.
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​We are extremely proud of our progress and pleased with our success. Thank you as always for your interest in and support of HHF, and we look forward to bringing you more good news in 2019 and beyond!