The Institute for LGBT Studies was inspired to create an opportunity for LGBTQ+ virtual artists-in-residence after conversations with local LGBTQ+ artists and musicians who were primarily gig workers and heavily impacted by COVID-19. Artists from all mediums and backgrounds, both local and national, responded to our call. We were in awe at the response from artists and the amazingly talented individuals that applied. We originally had offered five positions, but after the massive interest from artists, we were able to extend the opportunity to 11 individuals. Artists were given three weeks to create art that reflected the LGBTQ+ experience during pandemic times. This could be their personal experiences or the collective experience that they were observing. They were given no restrictions on the type of art, medium, etc. All of the 11 artists’ final submissions can be found here in a collection of videos, photographs, and written word – each unique and representative of the LGBTQ+ experience during these times. The Institute for LGBT Studies would like to extend gratitude for each of the artists that applied and all those whose work is shared here.
Adrian Cornejo
Adrian Cornejo is a Queer, Disabled, Agender Mexican artist based in Tucson, AZ. They received their BFA and MFA from the Southwest University of Visual Arts (SUVA). Adrian's work is driven by a desire to investigate relationships as a concept in order to better understand their own roles and responsibilities within the various interactions they have in their life.
KaliMa Amilak
KaliMa Amilak is an Afro-Caribbean photographer native from Brooklyn, New York. In their experience as a photographer, they have sold and exhibited artwork in various galleries in Brooklyn, and was Head Photographer for the artist collective Brooklyn Artistry and Company.
Ang Woon
Mx. Ang Woon is a 3rd-generation, nonbinary, Chinese-American writer, spoken word artist, amateur contortionist, and introspective writing+mindset coach. They are adamantly for marginalized people, and against all oppression and injustice.
Tanea Lunsford Lynx
Tanea Lunsford Lynx is a fourth-generation Black San Franciscan on both sides. Tanea is a proud alum of Voices of Our Nation (VONA) and the Lambda Literary Retreat.
Willbliss Kim Cass Lim
I am pangender, pansexual, and a single parent of two young children that keep me young and also tired! I am a transracial, transnational adoptee from Korea. For a time the ocean, stars, and moon raised me while I raised my siblings and I still draw on these forces for spiritual guidance.
Edith Macias
Edith “Chata” Macias is a trans non-binary artist from South East Los Angeles, CA. They double majored in Ethnic Studies and Anthropology from the University of California, Riverside. Chata is a visual artist who is learning to love their art as it comes- no signature style, no expectations, just doing.
Alma Villegas
I am a 26-year-old Chicane from South Central Los Angeles. I transitioned to a non-binary identity at age 22 after taking a college course titled "Trangender Identities and Communities".
Anaysa Stark
I am the founder and owner of Art Mimics Life. Art Mimics Life is a new clothing brand coming on its 2 years that dedicated to helping the Eon Youth Program, a program of Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation located at the Thornhill Lopez Center on 4th in Tucson, AZ.
Brandon Sward
Brandon Sward is an artist, performer, writer, and doctoral student at the University of Chicago who lives and works in Big Timber, Montana. He was a quarterfinalist for Ruminate Magazine's 2018 VanderMey Nonfiction Prize, an honorable mention for the 47th New Millennium Writing Award
SSS
SSS is a first-generation American queer Desi Muslim who is a healer in progress, community organizer, multi-medium artivist, and creator through shapeshifting means, modalities, and mediums born and based in Los Angeles.