Arts & LGBTQ Identity
Arts & LGBTQ Identity
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning individuals have not only made incredible contributions to arts and culture, but they have used the arts as a way to both inspire and foster community. LGBTQ artists have harnessed their creative practice to fight misconceptions, promote progressive dialogue, and most importantly: empower identity, self-expression, and the ability to tell one's own true story.
This collection features artists, organizations, and funders who work to expand the base of support for LGBTQ rights via performance, song, video, and so much more. Read on to explore the full depth of important work being created and lived below.
Left: Trailer for the 2015 Queer Woman of Color Film Festival, part of the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project. Read more below!
Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP) promotes the creation, exhibition and distribution of new films/videos that address the vital social justice issues that concern queer women of color and our communities, authentically reflect our life stories, and build community through art and activism. We actively invest in, develop and nurture the creativity of emerging media artists who are Asian/Pacific Islander, Black/African American, Chicana/Latina, Native American and Mixed-Race lesbians, bisexual, queer and questioning women in the Bay Area. |
Liz Lerman founded Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in 1976. Its unique brand of dance and theatre breaks boundaries between stage and audience, theater and community, movement and language, tradition and the unexplored. Through explosive dancing, personal stories, humor, and a company of performers whose ages span six decades, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange stretches the expressive range of contemporary dance. Its work consists of formal concerts, interactive performances, specialized community residencies, and professional training in the art of community-based dance. |
At the age of 23, Madeleine Lim escaped persecution by the Singaporean government for her organizing work as a young lesbian artist-activist. Ten years later, she created Sambal Belacan in San Francisco, a film that is still banned in Singapore for its exploration of race, sexuality and nationality. As one of a small number of queer women of color filmmakers on the international film festival circuit, she saw that only queer women of color would tell their own authentic stories. |
The Leeway Foundation is Philadelphia-based independent foundation that supports individual women and transgender artists working toward individual and community transformation. The Foundation envisions a world where art is recognized as an essential part of the human experience; where it is employed and respected as a powerful catalyst for personal and social change; and where women and trans artists are honored as role models, mentors, and leaders. |
Jotalogues: Talking Taboo in the LGBTQAI-U is a theater/performance piece written and performed by Adelina Anthony & D'Lo and directed by Mark Valdez. Steeped in witty language and physical humor, Jotalogues tackles our multiple intersections from a pan-ethnic, pan-generational, and pan-sexual viewpoint. As our communities continue to face deep crisis, Jotalogues gives voice to the most marginalized—and it’s not your typical queers. In this show, Adelina and D’Lo, create zany characters to explore the effects of non-regulated human impact and destruction on our planet. |
For over a decade allgo has successfully developed cutting-edge programming that engages community members on a number of issues through the arts. ALLGO's Cultural Arts Program is committed to nurturing and exploring queer people of color aesthetics by providing resources and audiences for diverse artists while allowing communities to experience art which reflects our experience and illuminates our struggles. |
Through the arts, Dreams of Hope (DOH) develops lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied youth leaders who promote social change by educating audiences. DOH has established itself as Pittsburgh's only arts-focused, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and allied (LGBTA) youth (13-21) organization. The organization was founded in 2003 by Susan Haugh, current Artistic Director, with a $2,500 grant from the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts Program of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and with assistance from three collaborating artists. |
PFund advances social justice for LGBT communities by funding systems change, developing leaders, inspiring giving, and convening and reporting on issues of importance within our communities. We are working to change attitudes, change systems and break down barriers at the intersection of our identities—orientation, gender, race, culture—to achieve social justice. |
One Voice Mixed Chorus unites gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people and straight allies to build community and create social change by raising our voices in song. As the largest GLBT chorus in North America, One Voice is known for its musical excellence, diverse programming, and deep commitment to community outreach. The 90 singing members range from ages 17 to 75, and the "Fifth Section"; boasts more than 50 non-singing volunteers. |
In its four-and-a-half year Faith-Based Theater Cycle, Cornerstone Theater Company created original community-based plays in collaboration with faith-based institutions and inter-faith communities. The project explored how faith both unites and divides American society through experimentation with a variety of dialogue approaches that gave congregation members and others who attended the plays a chance to reflect on the issues and questions that rose from them. |
Founded in 1977, Frameline’s mission is to strengthen the diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and further its visibility by supporting and promoting a broad array of cultural representations and artistic expression in film, video and other media arts. |