Artists, architects, and designers celebrate Pride Month in communities across the United States

June is Pride Month. While AN regularly covers projects, buildings, and landscapes designed by and for LGBT+ individuals, recent news includes a historic site at Prospect Park under threat of redevelopment, a youth center in Chicago, and a health care clinic in Minneapolis. As in year’s past, for the month of June many artists, designers, and cities are showing their pride for pride with installations, events, and programming that recognize the community.

In New York City, where the Pride and LGBT+ movement took off in 1969 following the Stonewall riots, this year’s theme is “Strength in Solidarity.” As AN reported last year the historic Stonewall Inn bar in Greenwich Village broke ground on a new visitors center for the storied site. The Stonewall National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service and progress is underway on the construction of the visitor center, which will advance the mission of the Stonewall Rebellion through the display of archival materials, videos, and exhibitions.

On the topic of the Stonewall Inn…earlier this month, for one night only, Trash Panda Drinking Club, a bar in Houston, staged its interiors to look like those of the Greenwich Village dive bar. (It also staged popups honoring Cubbyhole, a lesbian bar in New York, and the now-closed LGBT+ La Strada restaurant in Houston.)

“The décor is going to be like Stonewall and so we’re going to have a lot of the historical pictures that they have. Just trying to bring the vibe that they have over there, the community and stuff,” Adriana Maldonado, executive chef of the bar, told KHOU.

A book from Phaidon coming out later this year, About Face: Stonewall, Revolt, and New Queer Art, offers a survey of artworks from LGBT+ artists from fifty plus years since the Stonewall riots.

Across the country many artists and cities are staging work and exhibitions recognizing pride month and the LGBT+ community. In West Hollywood, the city’s Art on the Outside public art initiative is staging Photographs by Terry Konrath adjacent to William S. Park. The images on display were captured by Konrath and offer a glimpse into the neighborhood’s drag community. We’ve Always Been Here by Britt Westveer, on view at the West Hollywood City Hall through April 30, 2024, comprises three oversized collages made up of archival images and the artist’s personal photographs to send the message that LGBT+ people have “always been here.”

In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Durham-based artist Julia Gartrell designed a 13-foot-tall wooden pyramid sculpture draped in rainbow colors. Dubbed the “queeramid,” the work was commissioned through the Chapel Hill Community Arts and Culture, and will be on view through the end of June.

Today, the #queeramid went up in downtown #ChapelHill thanks to artist Julia Gartrell. So many photos, selfies, fists in the air, smiles, and honks. Happy Pride Month, y’all! @DCHP_ChapelHill @chapelhillgov pic.twitter.com/IYdAB1bfXx

— Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture (@CHCommunityArts) May 31, 2023

In San Francisco each year a pink triangle is installed atop Twin Peaks during Pride. The triangle was a symbol used during World War II by Nazis in concentration camps to identify homosexual prisoners. Today while it is still a reminder of “hate and intolerance” it also serves to “educate others about the hatred of the past to help prevent it from happening again.” Also on view again this year in San Francisco is “the world’s largest pride flag” which will stretch 4.1 miles down Market Street.

ICYMI: #WelcomeSF will be back June 23-25
In collaboration w/ @KarlTheFog we’ll be blasting the world’s largest pride flag 4.1 miles down Market Street b/c we are San Francisco
+We’re hosting a FREE gathering to celebrate #pride on 6/23!
More details to come soon️‍#SFPride pic.twitter.com/UDnspoyOrv

— ILLUMINATE.org (@IlluminatedArts) June 2, 2023

In Wisconsin, the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) has rolled out its annual fleet of Pride-themed buses. This year the buses are covered in rainbow paint and prominently display the words “the bus is for all of us.”

Nothing like a little #gaypride in the gayborhood! Great job @RideMCTS! We love to see it! ️‍️‍⚧️ pic.twitter.com/8MzQ12uVTL

— Milwaukee Pride (@mkepride) June 10, 2023

Several organizations have planned events and programming to coincide with Pride month, among this the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation’s New Angle: Voice podcast has profiled African American architect Amaza Lee Meredith; in Chicago a local tour guide is spotlighting LGBT+ sites with a rich cultural history; and Build Out Alliance, a community for LGBT+ individuals in the building design and construction industry, has a host of events this month.

Happy Pride!