BASIC/DEPT and Google Create Digital Symbols of Solidarity for the Stonewall Visitor Center

BASIC/DEPT® unveils work for the Stonewall Visitor Center, as we acknowledge LGTBQ+ History Month. 

When people look after one another, a community is created. When a community shows up together, it becomes a movement. Stonewall may have started in New York City, but it represented a shared hope beyond any single person or neighbourhood. Google partnered with longtime partner agency BASIC/DEPT® to create a symbol of solidarity that honours the past, acknowledges the present, and reclaims the future.

The Stonewall uprising took place on June 28, 1969, which created what we know today as the Pride March. What began as a question mark in the community became an exclamation point for equal rights and to live authentically without fear. The Stonewall Inn is a well-known LGBTQ+ landmark around the world that both honours the legacy and shows the progress of the community’s fight towards equality and discrimination. How can this space continue to help push forward the movement through education, love, and care?

Building a Wall of Solidarity

Through a wall of photographic prints, digital screens, and mirrors that create floor-to-ceiling collage, the community can browse images and stories of Stonewall history. as they capture the state of the movement. The brief to BASIC/DEPT® was to combine past, present, and future through different mediums, in a way that creates a striking visual symbol of solidarity that pulls visitors in and invites the world to stand together at Stonewall once again. Mirrors in the wall represent an opportunity for viewers to visualise themselves symbolically “standing together” symbolising solidarity, support, and progress.

"This project holds a special place in my heart because we can see the triumphs, the strength, the vulnerability, and the unapologetic queer joy that we all possess in our community. This wall symbolises solidarity—it honours the past to acknowledge the present and hopeful for the future. Stonewall represents what can happen when a community comes together and shows up for one another— we create a movement. I hope this project can educate and inspire us to continue the fight for equality for all because we all deserve love." said Paul Capili, creative director and head of DEI, BASIC/DEPT®.

Throughout the installation, sound and motion from the Ballroom trailer and stills from the Google Arts & Culture Ballroom at Chelsea activation will be featured.