In June 1969, a police riot erupted at a bar that was known to have the most marginalized people in the gay community: Stonewall Inn. New York City is often referred to as the genesis of the LGBT civil rights movement. Generally, most places, if not all, are super accepting of LGBT, but there are definitely neighborhoods that are queerer than others. You want to go out and meet people and do the risqué things and have the IDC attitude. There is also just a feeling of rebellion that comes with being in New York. We feel super comfortable being ourselves and really affectionate with one another.
Since “the before.” Since gathering had new meaning… but our gathering was always fraught, and fought for, and fabulous, a real fantasy,” shared artist Barnette to Instagram.Īccording to a study done by professor of sociology Greggor Mattson in 2019, LGBTQ+ bars had been declining across the nation from 2007 to 2019, “with a disparate impact on those serving female-identified people and people of color.” The New Eagle Creek Saloon revives the establishment’s significant history in Chelsea, a neighborhood “where this legacy has been so instrumental to avant-garde art and performance,” shared The Kitchen’s website.We often take a lot of pride saying we live in NYC because of the diversity and being able to handle all these different cultures that are thrown at you, but I think the best part of it is being in a city that is recognized for its LGBT pride and community.īeing lesbians in New York is such a freeing place to be because there is such a huge variation of people, you don’t feel like an outcast, and a lot of times you will run into other lesbians like you. Photo: Adam Reich Installation view of Sadie Barnette: The New Eagle Creek Saloon, The Kitchen, New York, January 18, 2022–March 6, 2022. Installation view of Sadie Barnette: The New Eagle Creek Saloon, The Kitchen, New York, January 18, 2022–March 6, 2022. Everyone is encouraged to experience the exhibition through touch and sound as a changing audio component elevates the installation. The bar offered a social safe space for marginalized individuals of the multiracial queer community in San Francisco.Īt the installation, visitors can step into this shiny pink bar decorated with glittering books, bar stools, and a glowing “Eagle Creek” neon sign. The original saloon was first opened and operated from 1990–1993 by the artist’s father, Rodney Barnette, founder of the Compton Black Panther Party chapter. Produced in collaboration with the Studio Museum in Harlem, the installation makes way for the East Coast’s first “institutional presentation” of this historical space. NYC’s newest saloon comes just in time for Black History Month and soon after the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.Ĭelebrate Queer Black history at The Kitchen in Chelsea from now through March 6th with Sadie Barnette’s reimagination of Eagle Creek Saloon-San Francisco’s first Black-owned gay bar.