Tintoretta Tattoo provides safe haven for LGBTQ+ ink

(From left to right) Wong, Maldonado, and Pham // Photo by Zoe Strohm

Tintoretta Tattoo—a queer, P.O.C owned, tattoo shop, once native to the West Bottoms—has made its move to the Westside neighborhood, bringing along plans to do more than just tattoo. Seeing the status of the male-dominated tattoo world, owner and artist Ana Maldonado, also known as Ani Mal, wanted to create a place for women and queer artists to grow their craft in a safe space.

“The tattoo industry is heavily dominated by cis, white men,” Maldonado says. “Being people of color, being queer, being a woman, and succeeding, people don’t always like that. We’re just trying to create a space where people come and feel happy and comfortable.”

Originally settling in the West Bottoms in 2015, Tintoretta began to place its roots. What originally started as a one room studio, has now moved to a bigger studio space, allowing Maldonado to bring in new artists, host flash events, and work hand-in-hand with local businesses.

As business and opportunity continued to grow, their well-loved home began to burst at the seams.

“We wanted to host more events, bring in more guest artists, but we were running out of room,” Maldonado says. “And of course, it’s always the dream to own your own space.”

Kane Gilland // Photo by Zoe Strohm

Just after renewing their lease, a close friend and client of artist Cat Wong reached out, letting them know of the Westside location being listed for sale. The once-former church had the space they needed and more. Maldonado, Wong, and building manager Minh-Tu Pham decided to take the leap together—all three investing in the purchase of the building.

“Our business structure is as collectivist as can be,” says Maldonado. “I think I’ve always had some version of this dream, and it just takes so much work and relationship building and friendship. I’m super grateful for them.”

Before the new Tintoretta location could open for business, the building had to undergo some much-needed TLC. With the power of social media Maldonado, Wong, Pham, and artist Kane Gilland reached out to their community, enlisting help to remodel their new home.

“We posted something saying ‘Hey, we’re kind of getting to the end of our rope’ and we had so many volunteers step up,” Pham says. “Some people sent money, some people came and helped. There was so much support.”

Tintoretta wants to be more than just a tattoo shop, and give back to the neighborhood and communities that helped them get where they are now.

Tintoretta Tattoo Studio. // Photo by Zoe Strohm

“We want to be a sober, queer space where people can just hang out and feel safe and not feel pressured to drink,” Wong says.

“We had a guest artist from Singapore ask about any cool queer spaces and we realized there really aren’t very many, even on a bigger level than just Kansas City.” Maldonado says. “I feel like having a queer-centered space is pretty important, especially as a queer Brown person. It takes much relationship-building to create a culture of trust and establish a known safe space. While I can’t predict the future, I hope we can be the place queer teenagers and young people come to and feel comfortable.”

When asked about the future plans for the shop, they said, “The world is our oyster.” The building itself is split into two sides, one side dedicated to tattooing—Tintoretta. The other, an open room with connecting office spaces, a full kitchen, and space to lounge—Box Turtle Collective. On the side of the building sits a patio where they plan to hang up lights and add lounge furniture.

“We have a whole list of ideas, drag shows, karaoke nights, comedy shows, therapy circles, sobriety support meetings. There’s an elementary school up the street. We thought about advertising the office space as practice rooms to parents with kids learning a new instrument. We would love to host craft nights, movie nights, just to give a place for people to gather.” Pham says.

“We don’t want to come into the neighborhood and just take over. We want to be a part of the community here.” Wong adds.

“We have plans for flash events in the future, and we really want to partner with Cafe Cà Phê again,” Pham says. “The goal is to eventually host markets with local artists and creators, bring in food trucks, and do some flash tattoos.”

(From left to right) Wong, Maldonado, and Pham // Photo by Zoe Strohm

The new Tintoretta location began tattooing in February, and continues to grow every day. Since its opening they have brought on new artist Theo and are looking for a permanent makeup artist to provide gender-affirming beauty. They’re also still looking for some help from their community. 

“We found this place right after renewing our lease, so we’re looking for someone to take over the lease in our old building. Right now we’re paying rent and a mortgage, and were saving up to get some better lighting, update our kitchen, and soundproof out office spaces. Any donations are appreciated to help us get everything up and running.” Maldonado says.