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Date: 5/8/2023
WARE — Workshop13 is seeking works by LGBTQIA+ artists for the upcoming second annual Show Your Pride exhibit at Artworks Gallery.
Show Your Pride is an exhibit designed to celebrate and showcase the art of LGBTQIA+ artists in honor of National Pride Month in June.
Workshop13’s Executive Director Marie Lauderdale said, “Workshop13 is honored to celebrate pride to highlight and make welcome the diversity in our community and normalize families and individuals that break the heteronormative mold. We embrace members of the LGBTQIA+ community, support progress and hope to help instill confidence in our youth struggling with identity.”
The theme of the artwork being submitted is not limited to LGBTQIA+, however, “work expressing the authentic viewpoints of LGBTQIA+ such as experiences, underscoring identity, lifestyle and diversification,” is welcome, according to Workshop13’s website. Worksop13 encourages artists to “show us what your Pride looks like.”
Submissions are open to all 2D and 3D mediums. Electronic media is not being accepted at this time.
All submissions must be entered by Thursday, May 25. Detailed entry criteria for submissions and the application can be found at workshop13.org.
The gallery welcomes YoAhn Han as the juror for the show, who will be choosing the works to be exhibited in the show from the pool of submissions. Han will be selecting the award winners of the show as well.
Han is a visual artist from the Republic of Korea, now teaching at MassArt as an assistant professor and Rhode Island School of Design as a visiting lecturer.
Han’s work has been shown internationally as well as in the United States, and Han currently has a solo show at the Chase Young Gallery in Boston. Han’s work is “a visual dialogue between suppression and desire, a duality which speaks to both his experience of cerebral arteriovenous malformation and to his bifurcated cultural identity,” according to Workshop13’s website.
Exhibition Chair Joyce Eichacker said, “For the past year, Artworks Gallery has worked with well respected artists established in their fields, whose work stylistically matched the genre of the show they juried. Since the pride show is not stylistically thematic, our criteria was to find an up-and-coming or established artist who is also part of the LGBTQ+ community. YoAhn Han came highly recommended, and for good reason. His work is exceptional and what makes him particularly special is that he is a rising star in both the art and art education world. He will join a growing list of prominent artists that have juried exhibitions at Artworks Gallery and the Grand Hall at Workshop13.”
The importance of the show for the LGBTQIA+ community is well recognized by the organizers. “At a time when anti-LGBT+ legislation is making headlines across the country, celebrating and honoring pride is ever more important. It is our hope that this show will not only uplift LGBTQIA+ artists, but also communicate to LGBT+ members of the local community, especially youth, that they belong here and are supported,” Workshop13 instructor Althea Keaton said.
The opening reception for the show is Saturday, June 10, from 3-5 p.m. Award winners will be announced at the reception.
This exhibit will be displayed from June 10 to July 9, with viewing hours from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays at Artworks Gallery, 69 Main St. For those who cannot attend the show in person, a virtual gallery will be available for viewing at workshop13.org.
Workshop13 Cultural Arts and Learning Center is a rural nonprofit arts innovator devoted to increasing the appreciation and accessibility of the arts, strengthening the creative life of the community through instruction, collaborations, and arts-based initiatives, according to a press release about the show. ArtWorks Gallery is Workshop13’s gallery and hosts many exhibitions and events throughout the year.
Find out more at workshop13.org, by calling 413-277-6072, or contacting info@workshop13.org.