As a gay youth living in a small house in the middle of a cotton field in Needville, Texas, Tye Blue never dreamed that he would one day have the chance to produce and co-write an Off-Broadway musical that would earn the praises of none other than the Andrew Lloyd Webber.…
Southerners, if you ever find yourself venturing north to the Big Apple, I highly recommend following in my footsteps and making a visit to the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art.…
Forty years ago, Félix González-Torres arrived in New York City from Puerto Rico, marking the beginning of his emergence as one of the most influential conceptual artists of his generation. During a brilliant career cut tragically short by his death from AIDS, the openly gay, Cuban-born, Latino-American artist produced a wide range of works that challenged spectators to participate in the creative experience and to formulate their own meanings. Through photography, billboards, and installations comprised of everyday objects, he evoked…
It sounded like a wave breaking. When you’re watching Hamilton and a gun goes off, you expect a bit of audience commotion. You anticipate some sort of reaction to an emotional climax of a two-and-a-half-hour story—a murmur; a shifting in seats; the rustling of fabric on theater upholstery, a breeze through leaves. What sparked the red flag is when it didn’t stop.…
Like so many southerners, photographer Ransom Ashley, 26, had to leave his hometown before fully embracing his roots. While growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana, he was bullied for being “different.” As a gay adolescent, he turned to art as a way to channel his isolation. “I started photography as an outlet to navigate my feelings about who I was,” remembers Ashley. “It became my version of a diary.”…
Downstairs from street level, I sit in a quaint Manhattan coffee shop, nestled in the bustling hubbub of the Flatiron District. I recognize Bethany C. Meyers’ energy the moment they walk in, despite the heavy coat enveloping their petite frame, the bulky headphones, and celebrity sunglasses.…
Mississippi is known for its soul food, singing the blues, and deep southern culture. But Oxford painter Jonathan Kent Adams dreams of putting the Magnolia State on the map for something more—queer art. Adams grew up in a small town outside of Yazoo City, building forts in the woods, wading in the creek, and running through pastures to his grandparents’ house. He dabbled in singing, which taught him passion, and learned self-discipline by playing basketball.…
In the Northeast, we’re raised to believe that the region is the most liberal, open-minded, accepting place in the country (outside of California, at least). I thought to myself—if this whitewashed, racist, homophobic, heteronormative place is supposed to be liberal, then what is the South considered? Hell? …
