History of Gay and Lesbian Life in Wisconsin - Businesses - Health Clubs

 
Club Milwaukee Baths- Wall Art Collection

Return to Club Milwaukee Baths main page.

This collection of artwork was saved by then-Assistant-Manager Bradley Babush when the the Club Bath location in Milwaukee was closing in December of 1988. The collection was destined for the dumpster, but Bradley instead asked his close friend Rob Reimer to store it for him rather than lose it.

Time went by, but Babush never found another home for the artwork. Reimer inherited the artwork after Babush died in 1991, and it remained in storage with him until Reimer met his now-husband George Danicich in 1996. The couple were then able to display the whole collection in the stairwell leading to the second story of their home.

When the couple moved to Brown Deer, they were no longer able to properly display The Gallery, and it remained mostly in storage until June 2021, when they contacted Wisconsin LGBT History Project founder Don Schwamb and donated the collection to the Project.

The artworks are now being researched to try to find out more about the artists, and kept in climate controlled storage awaiting a determination of their next home. (All are simply framed with glass front.) They may be used as a fundraiser for the ongoing costs of maintaining the website, or they may find a new home together if the Project can locate a suitable place for them as a collection.

 

 
 
Club Key West poster
Artist: F. Ronald Fowler / 1981
(see detail)
size: 11"w x 17"h
 
COLT Studios model poster
Copyright 1980
size: 22"w x 30"h
 
Male nude reaching: print (116/1000)
Artist: George Kofo(?) (pencil-signed)
(see detail)
size: 11"w x 14"h
 
Manhandler Saloon (Chicago) poster
size: 18"w x 23"h
 
Gold Coast bar (Chicago) poster
Artist: 'Etienne'(Dom Orejudos, 1933–1991) / 1975
(see detail)
size: 24"w x 13"h
 
Arena Bar (San Francisco) poster
Artist: Robert Uyvari / 1980
(see detail)
size: 23"w x 29"h
 
Unicorn bathhouse poster
(Unicorn later became Steamworks bathhouse)
Artist: Dayhoff / 1981
(see detail)
size: 18"w x 24"h
 
Unicorn bathhouse poster
(Unicorn later became Steamworks bathhouse)
Artist: Dayhoff / 1982
size: 17"w x 24"h
 
 
Male nude, removing shirt: print
Artist: Tom Jones / 1985 (pencil-signed)
(see detail)
size: 19"w x 25"h
 
Male nude, turning: print
Artist: Tom Jones / 1986 (pencil-signed)
(see detail)
size: 19"w x 25"h
 
Male nude rear: print
Artist: Tom Jones / date unknown (pencil-signed)
(see detail)
size: 19"w x 25"h
 
Chicago International Film Festival poster
size: 24"w x 27"h
 
Chicago International Film Festival poster
size: 27"w x 30"h
 
 
 

Return to Club Milwaukee Bath main page.

Credits: web site concept, design and format by Don Schwamb;
Historical information and archival collection by Don Schwamb;
Last updated: August-2021.

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