April 9, 2025 – (KEY WEST, FL). The Key West Art & Historical Society welcomes the public to a special reception on May 2 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. to mark the opening of its latest exhibit “The Stonewall Riots: The Start of a Movement.” The exhibition, on temporary loan from the Stonewall National Museum Archives and Library, will be on display during Pride Month at the Key West Museum of Art & History, 281 Front Street. Museum visitors will be transported back to the iconic New York City bar hours before the historic Stonewall Riots set in motion a global LGBTQ+ human rights movement in June 1969.
The original Stonewall Inn was a mob-owned bar in Greenwich Village in an area commonly referred to as the West Village. The quarter was home to numbers of gay and lesbian bars, many of which were raided periodically with the patrons and employees being harassed, arrested, and assaulted. On Friday night, June 27, 1969, police raided the bar, sparking a riot among bar patrons and residents, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar and neighboring streets. These protests are viewed as the catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.
Visitors to the exhibition will be carried back to the gritty interior of the Stonewall Inn, featuring a ‘smoky’ bar setting with a vintage jukebox playing 1969 hits. A virtual bartender discusses life in the West Village during that time period, while virtual bar patrons recall the night of the raid and the subsequent days when gay rights activists took to the streets of New York. The traveling exhibit also features artifacts and educational text panels to tell the story of this pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history.
“In bringing the “Stonewall Uprising” exhibition to the island during Key West Pride Month, it is the Society’s hope to share this powerful moment—that confrontational June evening—that inspired people from all walks of life to galvanize the LGBTQ+ movement,” says Society curator Dr. Cori Convertito. “In the wake of the Stonewall Riots, Key West became a popular community for the LGBTQ+ community in the 1970s. The influx of mostly gay men and lesbian women that arrived during that era established several locally cherished businesses including Key West Aloe, the Monster Bar, Fast Buck Freddie’s, the Key West Business Guild, and Gingerbread Square Gallery. Key West is the perfect city to host this traveling exhibition.”
“The Stonewall Uprising: The Start of a Movement” runs until July 5 in the Bumpus Gallery of the Key West Museum of Art & History and is sponsored in part by Jim Speake and the Key West Business Guild. For more information on the exhibit or the public reception, visit kwahs.org/stonewall-opening, call Convertito on 305-295-6616 x 507, or email [email protected].
Your Museums. Your Community. It takes an Island.
###
IMAGE 1: The Key West Museum of Art & History welcomes the community to a free community gathering to mark the opening of its latest exhibit, “The Stonewall Uprising: The Start of a Movement.” The reception takes place at the museum (281 Front Street) from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on May 2, 2025. (Photo Credit: Google Art & Culture Open Access)
