Current Location:
Kirkhof Center -> 1st Floor (KC)
Location Notes:
KC; 1st Fl; Lounge outside Rm. 1161

Dewey's

Artwork
Identifier:
2014.95.3
Artist:
Anna Campbell
Credit:
Gift of the Artist
Medium:
Mirror
Dimensions:
Artworks - Height: 20.5 in Width: 32.5 in
Description:
Bar-style mirror with sand blasted image depicting three scenes from the Dewey's Restaurant sit-in protests and text that reads, "Philadelphia, 1969, Dewey's, Service Refused, Janus Society, Homophile Rights, Leaflets & Sit-In, Four Convicted of Disorderly Conduct".
Historical Context:
"This series of mirrors with sandblasted images and text were designed to be exhibited in bars as well as in galleries and other public spaces in an effort to break down expectations of access, and reach multiple audiences. The mirrors are meant to hew so closely to typical expressions of promotional materials and material culture that they can initially pass as decoration. For that to function effectively, each is also designed with the branding aesthetic of popular beers and alcohol.

The narratives of each of these protests is told in fragments, not only to induce an interest in learning more about the various raids, sit-ins and riots, but also because the legend of these events are in some ways as important as the facts. That what the mirrors seem to offer at first
blush is a concession to a bar patrons' narcissism and a corporate courting of the pink dollar, makes the inversion of the mirror's narratives ­ political and private rather than promotional ­ all the more potent in signaling that where people congregate for pleasure can also be the site of activism." - Anna Campbell