If the recent events around the world have taught us anything, it is that the long-standing, hard fought-for freedoms of minorities are extremely precarious indeed. With a xenophobe and misogynist in charge in the White House, and a homophobe behind him, the US government seems to have no qualms with legitimising hatred towards anybody who isn’t them, whether they are Muslim, LGBTQ or anything other than a white straight male.
Yet the revolution has already started, both on the streets and in the art world. In a gesture of good will, the MoMA have teamed up with Open Art Space to open up a safe haven for any LGTBQ youths and their friends who wish to drop in and learn about art. What makes this concept so great is not only the free MetroCard and snacks, or even that you don’t need any art experience in order to join, but that the focus is on celebrating queer identity instead of just accepting it.
From Open Art Space’s queer prom last year. Via Open Art Space
Co-creator, Mark Joshua Epstein, himself someone who has experienced homophobia, says of the project: “Open Art Space is a place where we aim to go way beyond acceptance. Acceptance alone is lazy, it’s passive, it’s begrudging. At OAS we aim higher. Let us celebrate, appreciate, and admire our LGBTQ teens, they are, as we have learned this past year, worthy of all those things and more.” With many teens growing up in areas where queer identity isn’t tolerated, or schools where it simply isn’t talked about, this space is somewhere where they don’t only have to be accepted, but they can enjoy their lives. This is reflected in its tagline, reading: “Make Art. Meet People. Explore Ideas. Be Yourself”
In these difficult times spaces like these are important to give LGBTQ youths the necessary tools in order to express themselves, as being articulate about your identity is one of the best ways to resist. This joins other places such as the Leslie-Lohman Museum Gay Art Foundation, the Queer Cultural Center, and The Glasgow Gay & Lesbian Centre as an important space to curate queer experience in the arts. Let’s hope that many more institutions follow suit.
From Open Art Space’s queer prom last year. Via Open Art Space