EST. 1972

Graffiti has been around for centuries, but it wasn’t until the late 1960’s, in Philadelphia when graffiti artist Cornbread began tagging his name all over the city and pulling off daring tagging missions that would not only elevate his reputation but also jumpstart the Graffiti movement. Cornbread’s passion began spreading like wildfire to New York City and inspiring graffiti artists in the big Apple to create their own legacies.

In 1972, the United Graffiti Artists

(UGA) was formed by Hugo Martinez in New York City. Martinez was captivated by graffiti art, so sought to create a collective of talented graf writers to promote positive opportunities for artists to showcase their work and create innovative art together.

Martinez eventually connected with Henry 161 who introduced Martinez to several other graffiti writers from the Washington Heights area of New York.

The collective consisted of 16 artists, that would eventually make up The United Graffiti Artists (UGA). The members included SNAKE 1, SJK 171, MIKE 171, STITCH 1, HENRY 161, WICKED

GARY, BAMA, COCO 144, PHASE

2, CHARMIN 65, BUG 170, CANO shows proving that graffiti art could be much more than the tagging of a name.

1, RICK 2, RICAN 619, RAY-B 954, LEE 163, STAY-HIGH 149, and NOVA 1.

The first UGA show was hosted by City College in December of 1972, when a collaborative work on one 10-by-40-foot wall was displayed for the public to see. The show was loved and would even be covered by The New York Times.

In April, 1973 UGA collaborated with the Joffrey Ballet and painted a massive rolling backdrop for a dance recital. The partnership was a success, demonstrating that graffiti can be acclimated to other mediums of art. Shortly after, the city provided UGA with a warehouse for creating and executing commissions—their art wasn’t just something people wanted to see on city walls anymore!

In 1975, UGA would cease its existence as a collective due to many disagreements and disputes between the collective of graf writers. However, some of the writers would go on creating and leveling up their skills, while others quit graffiti entirely.

But thanks to Hugo Martinez’s vision and efforts to introduce graffiti to canvasses the collective known as United Graffiti Artists, reaped many opportunities and shined a light on how constructive and versatile graffiti art can be.

Recognition began to takeoff for UGA as New York Magazine featured the group for a cover story. UGA continued to host group