QUEERING & QUESTIONING: UWEC Students Curate ‘Layers of (in)QUEER(y)’ Exhibit
class inspires ongoing exhibit highlighting local and national queer artist
photos by Andrea Paulseth, by Evie Heidel |
A new exhibit at the Foster Gallery in Haas Fine Arts Center at UW-Eau Claire has given local and national queer artists the creative space to play around with layers of their own identities.
Local student artists have come together to create a brand-new exhibit, titled “Layers of (in)QUEER(y),” to share works by local and national artists as well as their own research. The students who helped curate include both current and recent students from UWEC: Isabelle Valencia, Carrie Schwartz, Rebecca Boese, and Declan Melchoir, who also have art featured in the exhibit.
“We were inspired by the artists we met and the work we had done to create a larger scale exhibition to bring queer art and artists to campus and the community,” Valencia said. The gallery features 13 different artists from all over the country.
Since the exhibit opened on Oct. 17, many students and community members have visited. “People should look for The Queer Snare, which is a piece in the exhibition that can be added to by visitors of the gallery,” Schwartz said. “It’s a living project and we encourage all who go to take part in it.”
The art exhibit was conceptualized last spring in a UWEC honors class called “A Queer Lens: Representation of Art, Film, and Photography,” which was taught by Professor Ellen Mahaffy. “It explored various themes of queer art in different forms,” Valencia said. “We were inspired by the artists we met and the work we had done to create a larger scale exhibition to bring queer art and artists to campus and the community.”
With the guidance of Mahaffy and Anna Zook, an arts librarian at UWEC, the student curators are able to showcase almost a year of hard work and dedication. The exhibit also hosts workshops and talks throughout the month, giving a hands-on opportunity to learn and explore to the community.
“Layers of (in)QUEER(y)” will be on display in the Foster Gallery in UWEC’s Haas Fine Arts Center through Nov. 19. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 10am-4:30pm, Thursday 6-8pm, and Saturday and Sunday 1-4:30pm. Visit the UWEC website for details on events related to the exhibit.
