\The artist Beau McCall and his Curator Souleo (also his life partner) have a timely and heartfelt exhibition spotlighting the Black LGBTQ+ experience in America and featuring collages by McCall and archival material from the Stonewall National Museum, Library, & Archives (SNMAL). The collages are drawn from McCall’s debut artists’ book, REWIND: MEMORIES ON REPEAT which honors the legacy of ten of McCall’s deceased friends. Each collage is composed of McCall’s personal archival photos and papers, along with images from his clothing button embellished artwork. The collages capture the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, from Philadelphia to New York, during the LGBTQ+ rights movement, the height of disco music and the AIDS crisis. McCall’s work is rooted in framing personal memories and experiences within historical and social contexts. To aid in this narrative select collages are paired with an archival item from SNMAL that relates to the theme of McCall’s artwork. This pairing draws a parallel between the personal experiences of McCall and his friends and the larger historical moments that impacted their lives. Collectively, McCall’s collages and Stonewall’s archive reflect the joys and struggles of the Black LGBTQ+ community and demonstrate how art and archives can be used as tools to better understand our lives, find connections between the past and present, and imagine a brighter future.
South Florida has always been a home from home for many LGBT residents of Provincetown who like to swap the sometimes brutal winters for the sunshine state. Now The Stonewall National Museum & Archives in Wilton Manors has a new exhibition called The Lure of Provincetown that takes a look at the history of why people still flock back every summer without fail.
Featuring photographs by the late Al Kaplan, who arrived in P Town in 1961 aged 18 and for the next five years recorded the community that he was at the center of. Midge Battelle’s photographs are from the 1990’s when she recorded the annual Dyke Drag Brunch that takes place during P Town’s Womensweek. They are joined by art from Len Paoletti who before he retired to Fort Lauderdale ran a couple of P Town guest houses whilst practicing his art. Paoletti is best known for his canvasses on scenes at the Boatslip Tea-Dances which have a distinct 1980’s feel to them.
queerguruP.T.V’s roving reporter who winters in Miami Beach caught up with Chris Rudisill, Stonewall Museum’s Executive director to get the low-down on why he thinks there is such a bond between the two towns.
Since the 1940’s Cherry Grove, New York a small village on FIRE ISLAND has been a vacation paradise for the LGBTQ Community. The Cherry Grove Archives Collection a non-profit organisation was established to record the community’s history and is currently presenting an Exhibit SAFE/HAVEN; GAY LIFE IN THE 1950’s at Stonewall National Museum & Archives in Wilton Manors.