KC Streetcar Shelter, Power & Light Northbound Stop
(Art in the Loop)
2024
Collaborative Install
Just one block away from where Soakie’s used to exist (1308 Main Street), this installation for Art in the Loop was both a beautiful reminder of Black queer Kansas City history, and a harrowing call-out of Kansas City’s Power & Light Development and what remains of Soakie’s today.
20 years since Soakie’s was shut down by the $850 million government-sponsored gentrification project, this installation collages photos from the inaugural collections of {B/qKC}–held by Starla Carr, Tisha Taylor and Gary Carrington.
Installation Placard
“welcome_to_soakie’s” is created with materials from Kansas City’s inaugural Black queer archive, {B/qKC}. Launched in March 2024, {B/qKC} vol. 02 tells the story of Soakie’s: a sandwich shop in Downtown Kansas City that, through an unlikely partnership between the Italian mob and two Black gay men, would become a booming Black gay nightclub from 1993 – 2004.
In a dazzling display of Kansas City’s rich ballroom culture, Black queer camaraderie, and chosen family, Gary Carrington, Tisha Taylor and Starla Carr collections of {B/qKC} –– each named after a legendary Black queer elder and their licensed materials –– tell their own stories of this once safe space.
{B/qKC} is founded by Nasir Anthony Montalvo and produced through The Kansas City Defender, a local Black community media organization.
