On May 1 from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m., freshman anthropology student Mia Wallen is hosting an art exhibition titled “Queer Art, For and By Queer Artists” at the St. Louis Virtuoso Collective. Art of all forms and mediums will be displayed and many artists have been invited to sell their work on display.
All proceeds from the event will go to Trans Housing Initiative St. Louis, a trans-led organization aimed at tackling systemic injustices experienced by trans people in the housing sector.
Wallen said she used the project as an opportunity to build a community she never had before.
“I’m queer myself, so I’ve always been very interested in LGBTQ rights, history and culture, and building that community,” Wallen said. “I grew up in a small town and went to very Catholic private schools, and I didn’t have a community until later.”
Wallen said that most of her past works, including paintings, sketches, short stories and essays, involve queer themes.
“There’s not a whole lot of queer representation in the media, which makes it very hard to see yourself out there,” Wallen said.
Wallen said that she decided to combine her passion for art and LGBTQ rights into an art exhibit displaying works by a diverse group of queer artists for her final project.
“The art itself touches people…I hope that [the exhibit] helps someone find belonging and see that someone else sees them and someone else understands them,” Wallen said.
Women’s and Gender Studies professor Mary Maxfield said they hope the project will enable each student to discover how they can use their voice and actions to make change.
“We often think of activism as taking up a bullhorn and leading a march through the streets, and that’s very important,” Maxfield said. “[But] activism can also look like writing, like making art, like doing lab research or like offering support within your community.”
Maxfield said that artistic expressions can reach different audiences in a more personal way, making artists a crucial part of activism.
“I honestly don’t know that we can separate art and social justice or art and politics,” Maxfield said. “Artists contribute significantly to any social movement you look at, from the Gran Fury poster designs for ACTUP [the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power] to the outpouring of zines and albums during the Riot Grrrl era to the whole history of political theater.”
Wallen echoed this sentiment and said there is an inseparable connection between art and activism.
“Art is objectively political,” Wallen said. “Creation of art itself is very personal and almost exists outside of the binary, so when someone makes art, they’re making a statement because your art is a reflection of yourself, and therefore your own personal beliefs are going to bleed into that.”
Wallen said she has not curated anything in this manner before but has enjoyed the experience.
“This is my first avenue into that [art curation] which is very exciting, and hopefully I can continue doing this again in the future,” Wallen said.
Wallen said she hopes the exhibit can be an opportunity for reflection and dialogue between visitors and artists.
“Art is the best way to reflect because it can be interpreted in so many ways,” Wallen said. “I want [visitors] to look at the art and see areas in which they can agree or disagree with the artists and their viewpoints in a respectful manner.”
