The Glass Garden

Pavilion

Michael Crawbuck and Mickey Santana

About the piece: The Glass Garden Pavilion is a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community’s perseverance in the face of New York City gay bar raids and closures in the 1960s. At that time, Mayor Robert F. Wagner was determined to “clean up” the city in the lead up to the 1964 World’s Fair, leveraging the police and the law to shut down gay bars. As more queer spaces were forced to close, the community resisted with pivotal demonstrations at these bars. This garden pays tribute to these acts of resistance with illuminated glass flowers growing out of the broken bottles from these shuttered establishments, including The Snake Pit, Sea Colony, Tel-Star, The Checkerboard, The Sewer and The Stonewall Inn. You can hear echoes of the past with music that once played in those bars, inspiring the lights to dance in defiance. Guests are encouraged to join in with the dancing lights by using disco ball watering cans to give the flowers a drink and make them shine even brighter. The Glass Garden Pavilion is a reminder that when we come together and water those who are wilted, the community shines brighter too.

About the artists: Michael Crawbuck and Mickey Santana are the founders of Three Bee Experiences, an experiential art studio with a focus on themed events and culinary creations. Their work pulls from their roots in New York, Toronto, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. The Glass Garden Pavilion is their debut public art installation and they are eager to grow their career in experiential storytelling. They are steadfast on creating fantastical worlds and whimsical encounters that make a real-world impact. Michael and Mickey designed this installation as a reminder to dance through the darkness in the pursuit of queer joy.