A Gay Artists Network Paul Varnell

A Gay Artists Network Paul Varnell
Copyright by The Independent Gay
Forum

For the most part these columns engage in social criticism, but sometimes I
try to suggest ideas that might promote gay visibility and social impact. This
is one of those.

Besides writing my regular column, in recent months I have written more about
music and art, mostly art, from major museum exhibitions to interesting work
by local gay artists on display at smaller galleries.

It turns out there are quite a number of local gay artists, more than I had
suspected and more than most gay artists themselves seem to realize. Most of
the gay artists I have talked with seem to know a few others, yet they all know
different ones.

This has led me to wonder if there would be some benefit to forming some sort
of organization or network of local gay artists and art photographers. I can
think of ways in which such a network could be useful to gay artists, help
promote their visibility in the gay community and promote gay visibility in the
community at large.

Several of the younger artists I've mentioned the idea to have seemed
interested--enough, I think, to make the idea worth trying. There could be
several benefits to such a network.

Fellow artists can provide encouragement and support for one another's work.
It is easy to become discouraged and lose faith in the absence of support, so
encouragement and praise by fellow artists who see value or potential in their
work can be a crucial stimulus.

Artists can learn new and useful techniques, new media, from other artists.
"How did you do that?" "Why did you do it that way?" and "Where did this come
from?" are questions I often ask avel, many artists and photographers might
well gain from encountering the ideas and perceptions of other creative people.
Not all of creativity comes from the inside. Much of it comes from adapting and
modifying the ideas of one's contemporaries and predecessors.

Gay artists could exchange information about friendly galleries and display
locations, art fairs and relevant city arts programs.

They could as an established group or network be in a better position to
promote the visibility of all gay artists than any one or two could
individually. They could encourage the owners of gay public spaces to display the work of
gay artists as a few taverns already do. They could lobby the local gay
community center to devote more space to local gay artists and hold more
arts-related events.

They could invite established artists and photographers to talk about their
craft and how they developed their careers. Most established artists or
practitioners in any field are usually willing to talk to younger people who are
genuinely interested in their work and eager to learn.

They could invite gallery owners and museum curators to talk about their work
too--how curators decide what to buy or display, how commercial galleries
operate0, and how non-profit galleries see their mission.

Those among them who wished to could go to museum exhibitions or support gay
artists by attending when they have openings at local galleries.

If some of them wanted to try to organize a group show or exhibition
somewhere, that would be a possibility, either finding a friendly gallery for
(say) a two-week exhibition or sharing the costs of renting a space for themselves.

I hope it is clear how by promoting their work gay artists benefit the entire
gay community. Obviously they can help the gay community become a little more
art-aware than it currently is. But perhaps more important, mainstream
society learns about gays and discovers a reason to value our lives by the
things we can offer to the world at large--whether it is economic productivity or the
cultural creations we generate. In a way, our creative contributions are our
legacy; they are what we produce in lieu of children.

Although this proposal is based on my experience in Chicago, most large and
mid-sized cities have a critical mass of artists and art-photographers to make
this kind of project work. An organization or network of gay artists need not
be very formal. All that is necessary to get it started is for someone to step
forward--write a Letter to the Editor of this newspaper or post announcements
in prominent gay spaces--to offer to collect email address of people who are
interested in participating and then designate an initial gathering point.

*****

Many of Paul Varnell's previous columns are posted at the Independent Gay
Forum (www.indegayforum.org ). His e-mail address is Pvarnell@aol.com