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Several of the designs raise money for charities. Additionally, he arrives to do good with his work. His main hope is to represent all the old haunts that no longer exist. With more than 150 designs from Florida gay bars, GayBarchives is a reminder of how rich LGBTQ culture was and still is in Florida.Īlthough Smith focuses on venues that were around from the 1950s through the 1990s, he doesn’t limit his collection. Petersburg area, the Wedgwood Inn, Suncoast Eagle, Rainbow Lounge, and Red Devil have designs available. Several Tampa establishments also have designs, such as Rene’s Disco, Pleasuredome, GBar, Flirt and Chambers. Recently closed in 2019, the resort faithfully catered to a LGBTQ crowd for over a decade.
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In fact, the 300th design from the company honors the local Flamingo Resort. Establishments from as far north as Pensacola and Jacksonville to as far south as Key West are represented in the collection. Presently, there are more than 150 Florida LGBTQ bars archived. Smith’s Florida CollectionĪrt Smith honors bars from cities and towns across the country, and that includes Florida gay bars. Smith enjoys making LGBTQ memorabilia, particularly because it’s so hard to find anything of the sort. Most of the designs are on unisex tee shirts and tanks, but there are also stickers available.
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They weren’t just watering holes, they were practically our ‘homes’.”Ĭurrently, GayBarchives has more than 1200 designs from bars all across the U.S. We banded together to fight political oppression, discrimination and AIDS. We made lifelong friends and met romantic partners there. They offered us the opportunity to express our authentic selves. They were where we went to feel accepted and loved, since so few of us were ‘out’ at that time. “These bars were our safe havens, our community centers. Since March, he has documented more than 1200 gay bars gone by and digitally reconstructed their logos for posterity.ĭuring the course of his extensive research, Smith gained a deeper understanding into the significance of gay bars to our community in decades past. Once Covid-19 began to impact life in Florida, Smith kicked the project into high gear. He researched other defunct LGBTQ bars and recreated their logos. After a successful sales period, Smith decided to move forward with what became known as the GayBarchives Project. 75% of his profits went to the Atlanta Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
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While Smith wanted to honor the memory of the bar with a shirt, he also wanted to make a positive impact. Before it closed in 2004, the massive three-story entertainment complex was one of the most popular gay bars in the Southeastern United States.
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Back in 1975, the bar opened in Atlanta and featured a 24/7 liquor license during much of its existence. In 2019, Smith kicked off TBTeez to sell shirts that commemorated the anniversary of the Backstreet bar. Art Smith Honoring the Past with the GayBarchives Project