“Poems, Playlists, Recipes, and Rituals”: The Queer|Art Community Portrait Project Release Party celebrates the launch of the 2020 Community Portrait Project Publication, with commissioned photographer Felicita “Felli” Maynard and members of the Queer|Art|Mentorship community sharing some of their personal strategies for creative resilience in the form of a series of unique and lively offerings–including performances, readings, rituals, cooking demonstrations, and more! Presenting artists include: Felicita "Felli" Maynard, Candystore, Nelson Santos, Marco DaSilva, Heather Lynn Johnson, Olaiya Olayemi, and others to be announced soon.
As we approach the first anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an ongoing economic crisis, and the rise of visible fascist violence, we find ourselves needing each other's support more than ever. The 2020 Community Portrait Project (gallery now live) gave our community a chance to come together—while remaining socially distanced—and be photographed by commissioned photographer Felicita “Felli” Maynard as they considered how queer community has supported them through these transformative times.
On Thursday, January 28 at 6pm EST members of the Queer|Art|Mentorship community will be gathering (virtually) for the Queer|Art Community Portrait Project Release Party to share offerings from community members, organized around the subjects of collective care and creative resilience. Ranging from poems to playlists, recipes to rituals, these offerings provide wisdom gained through quarantines and uprisings, shared here as performances, readings, and discussions.
The night will also feature a conversation with Felli about their work on the 2020 Community Portait Project, as well as the presentation of the 2020 Community Portrait Publication, an unbound collection of Felli’s portraits combined with offerings from participating Queer|Art|Mentorship artists. The full line-up of presenting artists will be announced over social media during the days leading up to the event and as additional RSVPs are confirmed. To learn more, be sure to follow Queer|Art on Instagram.
We invite you to join us to receive these offerings!
All are welcome, though we suggest donating what you can for admission. 100% of all donations for this event will benefit the Queer|Art|Mentorship Giving Circle—an initiative that provides direct financial assistance to members of the Queer|Art community, to ensure all artists in our community have the support they need to meet their basic needs during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and beyond. Click here to learn more about the Giving Circle.
The first 50 people to donate $50 or more will also receive a complimentary copy of the 2020 Community Portrait Project Publication!
If you aren’t among that first generous crop of 50 donors, don’t worry—you can still get your hands on a copy of the publication! You can purchase your copy below. Again, Queer|Art will be paying your support forward; 100% of the proceeds will be directed towards the Queer|Art Giving Circle.
This year, the Community Portrait Project takes the form of a beautiful, unbound publication comprised of a scrapbook-like compilation of strategies for creative resilience offered by the photographed artists.
Each publication comes encased in a glossy tarot card-sized box, perfect for taking it on the go. In addition to the complete suite of artist portraits shot by 2020 Queer|Art|Mentorship Fellow Felicita “Felli” Maynard, each deck contains a diversity of handmade offerings, including poems, playlists, recipes, rituals, reading lists, drawings, and assorted artworks.
In that same spirit of collective care, Queer|Art is paying your generous support forward. 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Queer|Art|Mentorship Giving Circle, an initiative launched in May 2020 in response to the COVID-19 crisis that helps ensure no artist in our community goes without basic needs as we navigate this pandemic together. The Giving Circle pools donations from members of our community and provides direct financial aid to artists who need support defraying the cost of essentials. Learn more about the Giving Circle here.
As we reflect on the current state of affairs and look for inspiration in the legacy of creative resilience that has shaped our community’s survival for decades, a deck of vibrant portraits alongside a collection of artist procedures for holding steady together feels like the perfect gift we can give ourselves.