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![]() LA&M entrance (2023) | |
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Established | September 18, 1991 |
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Location | 6418 N Greenview Ave Chicago, Illinois 60626 United States |
Coordinates | 41°59′55.06″N87°40′5.93″W / 41.9986278°N 87.6683139°W |
Founder | Chuck Renslow and Tony DeBlase |
Executive director | Gary Wasdin |
Website | leatherarchives |
The Leather Archives & Museum (LA&M) is a community archives, library, and museum located in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Chuck Renslow and Tony DeBlase in 1991, its mission is "making leather, kink, BDSM, and fetish accessible through research, preservation, education and community engagement." [1] [2] [3] Renslow and DeBlase founded the museum in response to the AIDS crisis, during which the leather and fetish communities' history and belongings were frequently lost or intentionally suppressed and discarded. [4]
The LA&M is a leading conservator of queer erotic art. Its permanent collection features some of the most iconic LGBT artists of the twentieth century, including most artwork by Bill Schmeling and many works by Dom Orejudos. [5] [6]
The museum is open to patrons 18 years of age and over. [7] It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization [8] and a member of the Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (ROAM). [9] Research assistance is available upon request. [10]
In 1991, Dom Orejudos, Chuck Renslow's partner of 40 years, passed away from AIDS. [11] When Orejudos was alive, Renslow had begun selling off some of his art to pay for medical treatment, but upon his death, Renslow was determined to preserve Orejudos' art and legacy. [11] Renslow was unable to find a museum willing to preserve Orejudos' entire body of work; [12] although multiple museums expressed interest in his art, they wished to pick and choose specific artworks, whereas Renslow wished to keep the collection intact. [11]
After consulting his friend Tony DeBlase, Renslow set about creating a new museum to forever preserve not just Orejudos' art and legacy, but also that of other leather artists and trailblazers. [11] In Renslow's words, "we were in the thick of the AIDS epidemic and with each death, families and friends were unknowingly tossing our history into dumpsters. That there was a safe place to conserve that history simply made more sense." [11] Former LA&M president [13] Jon Krongaard elaborated on the erasure of leather and fetish history common at that time, and the importance of the museum in giving a voice to that history:
In the 1980s, AIDS came along and there were things relevant in telling the story to the future that were lost because when someone died and the families would swoop in to clean up, finding these things was considered sick or perverse. They didn’t want to talk about it. These were pieces of artwork or bar vests with dozens of event pins, or old publications and magazines, and a host of other things that were incinerated or are rotting away in a landfill somewhere because parents or family members didn’t understand. This puts all that in a safe place. Enemies can’t get to it, families can’t throw it away, our history cannot be dismissed because people don’t understand it and therefore think it’s garbage. There are a lot of folks that aren’t here anymore and their stories can never be told. Each and every person whether you are just starting out or you’ve been around for fifty years, we all have a story to tell. Those who died young, their stories stopped. With so many stories gone it is incumbent upon those who survive to give that lost generation a voice. I tell the twenty- and thirty-somethings that these people fought the battles then so you can do what you do now a lot easier than you could even 15 years ago. [4]
The LA&M was incorporated in the State of Illinois in 1991. [2] It held a ribbon cutting ceremony and its first public gallery show on November 4, 1995. Its first storefront was at 5013 N Clark Street, adjacent to Man’s Country bathhouse. [11] As envisioned, the LA&M became a sanctuary for leather and fetish history and art; the scale of donated art and artifacts quickly overwhelmed the capacity of the Clark St storefront. [11] [4]
Members of the leather and fetish communities played a pivotal role in establishing the museum. In addition to donating much of the collection, they provided crucial financial support. As the museum outgrew its storefront, Renslow and DeBlase identified a former synagogue on Greenview Ave ideal to house the growing collection. [11] [14] They could afford only $3,000 of the $60,000 down payment required to buy the Greenview Ave property, so they appealed to International Mr. Leather attendees, who raised $58,000 in donations in a single night. [11] The LA&M moved into the Greenview Ave building, in which it remains to this day, in 1999. [15] [16] Over the next five years, the community raised the funds necessary to pay off the building's mortgage. [11] [4]
DeBlase served as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the LA&M from 1992 until 2000. [17] In May 2006, the LA&M's executive director Rick Storer participated in a panel discussion entitled "Censorship & Sexually Explicit Materials" at the 2006 LGBTQ Archives, Libraries, Museums and Special Collections (ALMS) Conference. [18] [19]
In May 2009, the LA&M announced that International Mr. Leather proceeds would be placed in a trust to benefit the museum. [20] The museum also receives funding from other leather events including Cleveland Annual Leather Weekend (CLAW) and Mid-Atlantic Leather (MAL) in D.C. [21] Also in 2009, the LA&M acquired the 25-box collection of papers of Robert Davolt, author and organizer of the San Francisco Pride leather contingent, and the former editor of Bound & Gagged . [22] [23]
In 2016, the LA&M celebrated its 25th anniversary with a weekend-long celebration featuring Gayle Rubin and Guy Baldwin. [24]
In 2019, several months before he died, Bill Schmeling donated all of his artwork, notes, and other materials to the LA&M. [5]
In 2024, the LA&M announced a capital campaign to renovate the museum, including the addition of dedicated research space, flexible event space, and ADA-compliant accessibility. [14]
It is estimated that just one percent of the museum's collection is on display at any given time. [12]
The LA&M holds one of three original leather pride flags created by Tony DeBlase in 1989. [25]
The museum has the world's largest collection of original work by Dom Orejudos (Etienne) and the entire personal collection of artwork and notes by Bill Schmeling (the Hun). [5] [4] LA&M also holds art by Chuck Arnett, [4] Giacomo "Jack" Bozzi (Adam), [26] [27] [28] David Grieger, [29] Beau Lee James, [30] Charles Kerbs (MATT), [31] Michael Kirwan, [32] John Klamik (Sean), [33] Touko Valio Laaksonen (Tom of Finland), [4] Mike Miksche (Steve Masters), [34] [35] Olaf Odegaard, [36] Jacki Randall, [4] Rex, [37] Al Shapiro (A. Jay), [38] Joe T, [39] Dennis Walsh, [40] and Bill Ward. [41]
One of the museum's largest paintings is The Last Supper In a Gay Leather Bar With Judas Giving Christ the Finger by Steven Brown, inspired by the artist's struggle to reconcile faith and sexuality. [4]
LA&M holds photographs by Kris Studios, a male physique photography studio founded by Renslow and Orejudos (named in part to honor transgender pioneer Christine Jorgensen). [42] [43] [44] [45] It also has photographs by Kenneth Anger, [46] George Dureau, [47] Efrain J. Gonzalez, [48] Adam Kozik, [4] Lochai, [4] and Robert Mapplethorpe. [4] LA&M's photos, videos, and oral histories chronicling International Mr. Leather and International Ms Leather were featured in a 2015 documentary by Christina Court: High Shine: 15 Years of International Ms Bootblack. [49]
LA&M holds complete sets of the magazines Drummer (original run) and Bound & Gagged. [6] [50] The collection includes records of leather and fetish organizations such as Chicago Hellfire Club, [51] Conversio Virium, [52] International Mr. Leather, [4] Mineshaft, [4] [53] MIR (formerly Mr. International Rubber), [54] National Leather Association, [4] and Society of Janus, [55] as well as the papers of Tony DeBlase. [6] Hundreds of oral history recordings, videos and transcripts by leather and fetish trailblazers such as Joe Laiacona (better known by his alias Jack Rinella) [56] and Larry Townsend are also available to researchers. [57] [4] [58] [59]
The collection includes artifacts (such as vests, patches and pins) from LGBT motorcycle clubs and leather clubs from around the world, [60] [21] [46] including Centurions of Columbus, [61] Crucible MC, [62] Empire City MC, [63] Rochester Rams MC, [64] Stallions MC, [65] and Wheels MC. [66] LA&M also displays ephemera from historic gay establishments, such as a glory hole from Man's Country (Chicago), [67] the original dress code sign from the Mineshaft (New York City), [4] and Mike Caffee's Leather David statue from Fe-Be's (San Francisco). [46] [68]
LA&M holds hundreds of bootblacking artifacts, many from bootblack competitions such International Mr. Bootblack (IMrBB), International Ms. Bootblack (IMsBB), and International Community Bootblack (ICBB). [69] These include IMrBB 1994 William Shields, Jr.'s bootblacking kit, IMrBB 2000 David Hawk's bootblacking chair, and a bootblacking chair used by Harry Shattuck and ‘Daddy’ William Shields, Jr. in gay bars in Chicago, Boston, Providence and New York City between the 1990s and 2000s. [70]
Body modification artifacts in the collection include Cliff Raven's tattooing memorabilia and photographs belonging to Sailor Sid. [4]
The LA&M contains a 164-seat auditorium [7] named in honor of Dom Orejudos (who signed his artwork under the alias Etienne); the auditorium is adorned with original Etienne artwork from the Gold Coast bar, Man's Country bathhouse, and elsewhere. [71] [72]
The auditorium is a hub for leather- and fetish-related events, community meetings, and lectures. [4] [73] [74] The event space is available to rent for a fee, but is made available for free for small not-for-profit community group gatherings. [7] [75] [46]
The auditorium is home to the LA&M's annual Fetish Film Forum. [76]
The Teri Rose Memorial Library, opened in 2005, allows visitors and researchers free access to a wide variety of books, periodicals, and catalogs. [77] [7] The non-circulating library contains more than 5,000 books, 11,000 magazines (including Honcho, Mandate , and Mattachine Review ), [78] and 100 journals. [4] [12]
LA&M's gift shop sells vintage erotica, apparel, and a variety of merchandise, much of which feature art by Etienne and the Hun. [79] The gift shop has a small physical presence in the museum as well as an online store. [12] [79]
In 2016, Chicago City Council designated September 18, 2016 as "LEATHER ARCHIVES & MUSEUM DAY" in honor of the museum's 25th anniversary (Resolution R2016-704). [80]
The LA&M was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 2017. [81]
The LA&M has received numerous honors and awards from leather organizations, including:
LA&M leaders have also received numerous honors:
Past and present exhibits include:
In regard to the name of A Room of Her Own, curator Alex Warner wrote: [91]
As I began work for the first exhibit installation of the Women's Leather History Project, I was excited that we were both literally and figuratively making room for Leatherwomen's history in the LA&M. It was out of this line of thinking that A Room of Her Own emerged, building on Virginia Woolf's 1929 feminist text A Room of One's Own that argues for women's need for space to think and create.
Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is one way that participants in this culture self-consciously distinguish themselves from mainstream sexual cultures. Many participants associate leather culture with BDSM practices and its many subcultures. For some, black leather clothing is an erotic fashion that expresses heightened masculinity or the appropriation of sexual power; love of motorcycles, motorcycle clubs and independence; and/or engagement in sexual kink or leather fetishism.
The leather pride flag is a symbol of leather subculture as well as kink and fetish subcultures more broadly, including BDSM. The flag was designed by Tony DeBlase in 1989.
Folsom Street Fair (FSF) is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair, held in September that concludes San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week". The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes referred to simply as "Folsom", takes place on the last Sunday in September, on Folsom Street between 8th and 13th Streets, in San Francisco's South of Market district.
Samuel Morris Steward, also known as Phil Andros, Phil Sparrow, was an American tattoo artist and pornographer.
International Mr. Leather(IML) is a multi-day conference and competition celebrating the leather, kink, fetish, and BDSM communities. Established in 1979, IML is held annually in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend, drawing thousands of contestants and spectators from around the world. As of 2024, 27 countries spanning six continents have competed.
Jacki Randall is an American cartoonist, tattoo artist, musician, and writer. Born in Los Angeles in 1959, Randall first garnered attention for her lesbian-focused cartoons in the Baltimore Gaypaper in 1981. Her comics have been featured in publications such as Gay Comics, The Baltimore Sun, On Our Backs, and Lesbian Connection. Randall is currently based in Baltimore, Maryland, where she works as a tattoo artist.
Charles "Chuck" Arnett was an American artist and dancer. His best-known work is the Tool Box mural (1962).
Drummer is an American magazine which focuses on "leathersex, leatherwear, leather and rubber gear, S&M, bondage and discipline, erotic styles and techniques." The magazine was launched in 1975 and ceased publication in April 1999 with issue 214, but was relaunched 20 years later by new publisher Jack MacCullum with editor Mike Miksche.
Chicago has long had a gay neighborhood. Beginning in the 1920s there was active homosexual nightlife in Towertown, adjacent to the Water Tower. Increasing rents forced gay-friendly establishments steadily northwards, moving through Old Town and Lincoln Park along Clark Street and on to Boystown.
REX was an American visual artist and illustrator closely associated with gay fetish art of 1970s and 1980s New York and San Francisco. He avoided photographs and did not discuss his personal life. His drawings influenced gay culture through graphics made for nightclubs including the Mineshaft and his influence on artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe. Much censored, he remained a shadowy figure, saying that his drawings "defined who I became" and that there are "no other 'truths' out there". REX died in Amsterdam in late March 2024.
International Ms. Leather (IMsL) is an annual leather subculture fetish convention and competition, originally focused on women but now inclusive of all genders. Since 1999, the convention has also included a Ms. Bootblack (IMsBB) contest.
Allen J. Shapiro, better known as Al Shapiro and by his pen name A. Jay, was a gay Jewish American artist active from the 1960s through 1980s. He is credited with the creation of the first-ever gay comic strip, The Adventures of Harry Chess: The Man from A.U.N.T.I.E.
Bill Schmeling, better known by his pen name The Hun, was an American artist active in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, known for his explicit, homoerotic fetish illustrations and comics.
Domingo Francisco Juan Esteban "Dom" Orejudos, Secundo, also widely known by the pen names Etienne and Stephen, was an openly gay artist, ballet dancer, and choreographer, best known for his ground-breaking masculine gay male erotica beginning in the 1950s. Along with artists George Quaintance and Touko Laaksonen – with whom he became friends – Orejudos' leather-themed art promoted an image of gay men as strong and masculine, as an alternative to the then-dominant stereotype as weak and effeminate. With his first lover and business partner Chuck Renslow, Orejudos established many landmarks of late-20th-century gay male culture, including the Gold Coast bar, Man's Country bathhouse, the International Mr. Leather competition, Chicago's August White Party, and the magazines Triumph, Rawhide, and Mars. He was also active and influential in the Chicago ballet community.
Charles "Chuck" Renslow was an American businessman, known for pioneering homoerotic male photography in the mid-20th-century US, and establishing many landmarks of late-20th-century gay culture and leather culture, especially in the Chicago area. His accomplishments included the cofounding with Tony DeBlase of the Leather Archives and Museum, the co-founding with Dom Orejudos of the Gold Coast bar, Man's Country bathhouse, and the International Mr. Leather competition, and the founding by himself alone of Chicago's August White Party, and the magazines Triumph, Rawhide, and Mars. He was a romantic partner of Dom Orejudos as well as Chuck Arnett, Samuel Steward, David Grooms, and Ron Ehemann.
Tony DeBlase (1942–2000), also known as Anthony DeBlase, was part of the BDSM and leather subcultures. He was the designer of the leather pride flag.
Bootblacks take care of the boots, and garments such as leather jackets, vests, chaps, harnesses, as well as other gear of Leatherpeople and the BDSM community. With the establishment of local, regional and international bootblack contests in the 1990s and early 2000s, bootblacks have gained visibility as a subculture in their own right. Nowadays, bootblack stands as well as classes on bootblacking are common fixtures at events, contests, conferences and parties. Bootblacks are not only preserving the physical items but are also collecting the stories of their wearers. Therefore, bootblacks play a central role in the oral history of the leather scene. While outsiders often link bootblacking to service-oriented submission, Bootblacks might take on any role in a BDSM dynamic.
Man's Country was a chain of bathhouses and private clubs for gay men in Chicago and New York City.
Gold Coast was a leather bar for gay men in Chicago that operated from 1960 to 1988. It was one of the first bars created by and for the gay leather community in the United States. For most of its 28 year history, between 1967 and 1984, the bar was located at 501 North Clark Street adjacent to Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood. This was also the period of its legendary basement, called The Pit. It was one of several gay businesses owned and operated by Chuck Renslow. The bar's founding led to the establishment of other gay businesses nearby, creating a kind of "gay district" in the area.