Throughout April, a number of prominent national lesbian, gay and bisexual artists of color will be featured as part of "Art Activism of a Queer Color: The Third Annual CU-Boulder Queer Arts Festival."
Artists scheduled to appear include Chicano AIDS activist, artist and scholar David Rom谩n, Native American photographer Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie, Chicana comedian Monica Palacios, Chinese American singer/songwriter Magdalen Hsu Li, and Chicana poet/novelist Ana Castillo. In addition, the festival will host a film festival by and about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people of color and will exhibit the works of local visual artists.
The festival is co-sponsored by the University of Colorado Student Union, UCSU聮s Cultural Events Board, the Women's Resource Center, the GLBT Resource Center and other organizations.
"This year聮s festival has attracted an incredibly high-caliber group of artists," said organizer Robb Hernandez. "Art is a critical form of cultural activism and provides a means of expression representing the true diversity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Art is access. Our theme is meant to both increase awareness of the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people of color and to help build bridges between communities."
Other festival activities include a panel discussion of local scholars and artists discussing the interrelationship of race, sexuality, gender and art; a cabaret/dance; an open-microphone reading of the works of honored GLBT poets and authors of color; and a week-long outreach campaign on campus that will invite passersby to create art.
"A big goal of the festival has always been to include all kinds of people, both on campus and from the community-at-large," said Abby Coleman, student coordinator of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center. "We are looking forward to unprecedented levels of attendance and participation -- everything is free to the public. We encourage everyone to come to one of the many events."
For more information, contact Robb Hernandez or Abby Coleman at the GLBT Resource Center at (303) 492-1377.
Schedule of Events
Tuesday, April 4
Film Festival Opening Reception: Living with Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100
A one-hour documentary about the life and times of Ruth C. Ellis, offering a rare opportunity to experience a century-long history of African American lesbians. Followed by a panel discussion on art activism by LGBT people of color featuring Terry Rowden, CU Professor of English, and Gina Kozik-Rosabal, Director, CU Women's Resource Center.
5 PM reception, 6 PM film, 7 PM panel, Humanities 250
Thursday, April 6
Ana Castillo, nationally renown poet/novelist/artist/xicanista
7PM Chem 142
Saturday, April 8
Not Just AIDS Talk! by David Rom谩n, Chicano AIDS activist, artist, author and
Assistant Professor of English at the University of Southern California
2PM Hale 270
Monday, April 10
Slide Presentation with Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie, Native American photographer exhibited nationally and internationally, Tsinhnahjinnie creates fluent images of native thought. To be held in conjunction with Colorado Native American Awareness Week.
7PM Humanities 1B50
Tuesday, April 11
Screening of Shinjuku Boys (1995, 53 min)
Visit the New Marilyn Club in Tokyo, where the "hosts" are women cross-dressing as men, and the "clients" are women, and take an extraordinary look at gender and sexuality in Japan.
6PM Humanities 1B50
Friday, April 14
Gallery Showing, Queer of Color Arts
A presentation of work from campus and local artists of color. Meet the artists at the concurrent light reception.
7-9PM UMC Gallery Music Room
Saturday, April 15
Poetry Night with Akila Oliver
6PM Dennis Small Cultural Center, University Memorial Center Room 305
Monday, April 17
Comedian Monica Palacios in her one-woman show Supersonic Chicana 2000
7PM UMC Forum Room
Tuesday, April 18
sexual exiles, a documentary by Irene Sosa about lesbians and gay men who become exiles because of their sexual identities. It explores their complicated relationships to home and family, and the discovery of new identities through migration and relocation.
6PM Humanities 1B50
Friday, April 21
Magdalen Hsu-Li, Singer-Songwriter
One of the first openly bisexual Chinese-American singer-songwriters to emerge in the U.S. as a star in the acoustic/pop/alternative genre, Magdalen has broken new ground as the forerunner of a new wave of Asian musical artists.
2PM - Speech
6PM 聳 Concert Old Main Theater
Saturday, April 22
Miss Nelly聮s Old School Rent Party
During the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, black gay people would throw parties, dance all night, and make the next month聮s rent. In the 1940s and 1950s, facing discrimination from white lesbians at bars, black lesbians Detroit threw rent parties to create their own space. In that tradition, a free stage show and dance is devoted to diverse expressions of fabulousness.
8:30PM Hard Drive Cafe, on the terrace level of the Kittredge Commons complex