The bar is part altar, with photos of the Barnette family from the time, and part sculpture, with crushed cans and stereo equipment enameled in glitter. Sadie called the aesthetic "disco limbo," saying in a recent interview that it connects to her work in terms of familiar objects or scenes portrayed with a hyperbolic grandeur to suggest their liberatory potential. "The New Eagle Creek Saloon" is not a reproduction of Eagle Creek so much as a fondly embellished memory. "I want this to channel Eagle Creek, not just be about it." Now the Oakland artist is using her residency at the Lab to to honor her father’s venture with "something living, something more than a referential archive," she said. Sadie was five years old in 1990 when her father acquired the bar that for the next three years provided gay people of color a site of protest, refuge and revelry on Market Street-"a friendly place with a funky bass for every race," as its slogan went. Sadie Barnette (L) used her residency at The Lab to honor San Francisco's first black-owned gay bar the Eagle Creek Saloon, which her father Rodney (R) opened in 1990. "That’s why I bought the Eagle Creek," he said. There was hardly a place for gay black people to dance, let alone throw a fundraiser for a gay black political candidate. In the 1970s and 1980s, Rodney recalled, gay bars were among the least hospitable places in San Francisco for black people such as himself. Arched over the scene was a pink neon sign with the words "Eagle Creek."Īs the music quieted, Sadie Barnette and her father Rodney sat on stools beneath the neon, and explained why this art space, usually known as the Lab, looked and felt like a nightclub. Diffuse blue and fuchsia lights shone on white patent leather sofas, and a DJ played vinyl-mostly throwback funk and disco beating with a steady pulse.
One Saturday evening last month, dozens of people hovered around a horseshoe-shaped bar in the Mission District of San Francisco.
“We’re safe at this time.Editor's Note: This article is part of KQED Arts' story series Pride as Protest, which chronicles the past and present of LGBTQ+ activism in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Learn more about the series here. I would never ever say 100 percent confident, but I’m pretty confident,” she said. “The guy (Omar Mateen) had time to reload and things like that so if (investigators) are able to reconstruct the situation, it would be interesting to see how people reacted and why did the people who survived survive.”ĭespite the push to increase security, Perez said there is no current indication of a specific threat to local gay bars or clubs. “I think one of the things they’ll probably look at very strongly is the layout of the bar and the exits,” she said.
Perez of the Sheriff’s Department said federal officials are working on a thorough examination of the attack at Pulse, which may yield more insights into how to respond to an assault. Patrons of these businesses are viewed as sinful and deserving violent punishment.” The document warns: “Islamic extremists view nightlife establishments as ‘dens of depravity,’ which represent Western decadence and immorality. Called “Best Practices for Nightlife Establishments,” the guide includes a section on counterterrorism strategies. Those who attended the June 28 meeting were given a 26-page safety guide that was prepared by the New York Police Department and distributed to law enforcement agencies around the country. “Everyone, no matter what systems you have in place, you always have room for improvement,” he added. He said the recent briefing offered an opportunity to review security plans. We check everyone’s ID’s, we check bags.” “Where people enter the bar, we set up barricades and columns to follow the line of people in and out. Now they are taking even more precautions. “We take it very seriously,” he explained.Įagle LA already had procedures in place to protect patrons before the Orlando massacre, he said.