Ah, 1976 – the leap year that saw the U.S. Bicentennial, the birth of Apple Computer and the first successful Mars landing. And if you were into subculture it was a pretty groovy year for California skateboarding, too, as evidenced in a new show at Danville’s Museum of the San Ramon Valley.
Jeff Heyman, a photographer based in Orinda (heymanfoto.smugmug.com), spent that year as a student at a local high school where he worked for the school rag, The Wolf Print. One of his projects was documenting the skateboarders at Montevideo, a drainage ditch in San Ramon where, as legend has it, much of the modern sport of skateboarding began.
In “Montevideo: Skateboarding History in the San Ramon Valley,” Heyman presents 20 rare, black-and-white images showing what was going down at this pivotal moment in history – young skaters from all over Northern California grinding, ollieing and having fun in the sun, long hair and bare chests and all. Check it out before the exhibit rolls away on June 8.
Details: Open 1-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday and noon-3 p.m. Sunday at 205 Railroad Ave., Danville; $5 general admission, museumsrv.org.