TIM GUTHRIE, SECOND FROM LEFT, AND JUSTIN STRONG, THIRD FROM RIGHT, RECEIVE PROCLAMATIONS FROM PITTSBURGH CITY COUNCILMAN KHARI MOSLEY, FAR RIGHT. THE SHADOW LOUNGE REUNION, 25TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT, WAS HELD, JUNE 28, 2025. (PHOTOS BY CHIEF IKHANA-HAL-MAKINA)
Twenty-five years ago, the Shadow Lounge was born.
The Shadow Lounge, the place where one could just, be themselves. No judgments. No negativity.
Just pure artistry.
The Shadow Lounge was located at the corner of S. Highland Avenue and Baum Boulevard, founded by Justin Strong, who was a student at Pitt when he debuted the Shadow Lounge on June 24, 2000.
“In general, I was always ‘different’ and wanted the opposite of what mainstream had to offer,” Strong told the New Pittsburgh Courier in a 2024 interview. “I really couldn’t find what I was looking for, even at Pitt, and that’s why I created it. It was really for me, and if you dig it, join up with us.”
On June 28, 2025, hundreds came out to celebrate the Shadow Lounge on its 25th birthday, with a block party in the middle of Baum Boulevard, next to the old Shadow Lounge. Hip-Hop artists performed via the popular Rhyme Calisthenics, which challenges artists to come up with lyrics based on different subjects. There were plenty of food vendors, a few displaying visual art, and overall, an homage to what the Shadow Lounge had brought to Pittsburgh over its 12-year run.
Strong, who runs Strong’s Cleaners on Frankstown Avenue in Homewood, spoke with the Courier following the “Shadow Lounge Reunion, 25th Anniversary” event. He said seeing people attend who had actually never been to the original Shadow Lounge was something he couldn’t “put into words.”
“Looked like everybody had a good time,” Strong added. “The comments we’ve been getting since then have been great.”
The Shadow Lounge, in its heyday, brought out a wide spectrum of people, from different ethnicities to elected officials, to party under one roof.
Strong told the Courier that the Shadow Lounge Reunion will now be an annual event, to be held most likely on the last Saturday in June each year.
Tim Guthrie first got involved with the Shadow Lounge as an artist. He later became a co-owner with Strong.
“The best art will be created when you’re comfortable,” Guthrie told KDKA-TV in an interview that aired prior to the June 28 event. “Our purpose was always about the art; money second.”
TIM GUTHRIE, PARADISE GRAY
