Photos of Backyard Anarchy at a Rural Skate Park

By Alison Nastasi

Feb. 1, 2015

Seattle Times writer Tom Keogh described the 88-acre skate park known as Skatopia as an “anarchist paradise and commercial enterprise on Ohio farmland, created by a charismatic outlaw.” Running the show is pro skater Brewce Martin. His annual backyard parties known as the Bowl Bash and Backwoods Blow Out are legendary. Martin — and Skatopia — has a history of violence (in the middle of the 2010 documentary Skatopia: 88 Acres of Anarchy, Brewce spends 60 days in jail for assault), but the skaters are deeply passionate and their leader has a brand/marketing prowess hiding underneath that rough exterior. Between the sex, parties, and skateboarding, photographer Stacy Kranitz, who we first spotted on Beautiful/Decay, captured the crew hanging out in their rural oasis, revealing what it’s like to come of age on wheels in the woods.

Photo credit: Stacy Kranitz