Here at Brooklyn Arts Council, we celebrate the importance of LGBTQ+ artists in Brooklyn, who remind us all that art knows no bounds when it comes to love, identity, and the pursuit of creative excellence.
LGBTQ+ artists are more than creators; they are trailblazers who spark meaningful conversations, challenge societal norms, and inspire change through their unwavering commitment to authenticity and self-expression. In honor of Pride Month, we invite you to dive into the journeys of a few of our 2023 Grantees whose contributions infuse the Brooklyn art scene with unique perspectives, thought-provoking narratives, and a rich tapestry of experiences. Join us in following and celebrating these artists' powerful work.
ChamberQUEER
2023 Local Arts Support Grantee
Photo by Sean Salamon.
ChamberQUEER creates adventurous and captivating programs that showcase queer composers across the centuries, and giving space to queer artists to experiment and create new work. ChamberQUEER is also a gathering place that uplifts and supports the queer community within classical music, from Open Mic Nights and Sight Reading Parties to community events throughout NYC. This month, ChamberQUEER presented its annual Pride Festival centered on radical collaboration. The festival brought together a team of fabulous creator-performers drawing from a diverse array of musical traditions to create an interdisciplinary exploration of the complex dialogue of life and art within the framework of queer relationships, kinship, community, and homes.
Exquisites
2023 Brooklyn Arts Fund Grantee
Exquisites, co-hosted by Danilo Machado and Em Marie Kohl, is a reading series held at Art Cafe + Bar in Brooklyn that centers queer and trans poets. The curatorial style of the series is inspired by the surrealist game exquisite corpse, where the whole is made collaboratively. In that spirit, Danilo and Em select an initial writer for each reading who begins a chain of nominations. As the series grows, a non-hierarchical constellation of intersectional queer and trans poets grows. Exquisites is excited to announce that they will be expanding in the coming months with a chapbook publication series, as well as monthly community workshops at local gardens and coffee shops.
National Queer Theater
2023 Creative Equations Fund Grantee
Jose Useche & Noor Hamdi star inWhen We Write with Ashes by Victor I. Cazares at NQT’s Criminal Queerness Festival. Directed By Borna Barzin. Photo by Sachyn Mital.
National Queer Theater (NQT) is an innovative theater collective dedicated to celebrating the brilliance of generations of LGBTQ artists and providing a home for unheard storytellers and activists. Believing in the power of theater to affect sweeping social change, NQT cultivates a more just, joyous, and empowered intersectional queer community that is celebrated in all corners of society. By serving elders, youth, and working professionals, NQT creates a more just future through radical and evocative theater experiences and free community classes. Through mainstage productions, free educational community programs, and new play development, NQT works towards a more equitable vision of a world bursting with pride.
The Octavia Project
2023 Local Arts Support Grantee
Photo courtesy Octavia Project.
The Octavia Project uses the creative power of speculative fiction and community to envision new futures and greater possibilities for our world. They foster spaces of imagination and exploration for teens and tweens in Brooklyn, blending creative writing, art, science, and technology to encourage critical thinking, build confidence, and develop skills in a myriad of subjects. Octavia Project’s Summer Institute 2023 brings together young women, trans, and nonbinary youth to build new worlds. Octavia Project believes that their ideas and imaginations are vital to a more just and equitable future and provide them with the support and tools to build their dreams. Through the curriculum, young folks explore how the world around them is created by a series of choices that can be remade or replaced.
QT Art Camp Staff.
QT Art Camp
2023 Creative Equations Fund & Brooklyn Arts Fund Grantee
QT Art Camp's mission is to build a hub for creative exploration and the development of artistic skills for trans and queer youth. QT’s programming fosters reassurance and furnishes resources for mindful artistic engagement. They strive to create inclusive communities for teens embarking on self-discovery through artistic practice. In 2021, Jesse Pallotta and Angel Glasby, two trans Brooklyn-based artists, co-founded the project during the sweeping wave of anti-trans legislation targeting trans youth. In 2023, QT Art Camp is hosting a series of art workshops free for queer and trans youth in Brooklyn. In a time where our bodies and spirits are under scrutiny and attack, QT Art Camp finds that sharing the power of art with trans and queer youth is more essential than ever.
Cover Image: Little Amal Walks NYC, a collaboration with Drag Story Hour NYC & National Queer Theater with Bella Noche, Harmonica Sunbeam, & Yuhua Hamasaki. Photo by Respective Collective.