Queer Art / Queer Archives Symposium

September 20-21, 2024

Co-hosted by the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville, Queer Art | Queer Archives brings together experts specializing in queer art, theory, and archival methods for two days of presentations, discussions, and exhibitions. Historically, queer practices circumvented institutions and experimented with media not sanctioned by museums. Artists and art historians concerned with queer practices therefore often devise new strategies to scour archives for the ephemeral objects and documents that constitute much of this overlooked work. By convening scholars who conduct queer archival research, this symposium centers practices that have been systematically marginalized by narratives of American art history. Our aim is to generate new interpretive frameworks to analyze intersections of queerness with race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, and socioeconomic status. Free and open to the public, please mark your calendars and join us!

Schedule

Day 1: Friday, September 20

Lexington, KY

University of Kentucky, Bolivar Art Gallery (236 Bolivar Street)

• 10:00am – 12:00pm: Panel 1 (3 papers + Q&A)
• 12:00pm – 1:30pm: Lunch Break
• 1:30pm – 3:00pm: Panel 2 (2 papers + Q&A)
• 3:00pm – 3:30pm: Coffee Break
• 3:30pm – 4:15pm: Concluding Roundtable
• 4:15pm – 5:30pm: Gallery Reception at Bolivar Art Gallery

Day 2: Saturday, September 21

Louisville, KY

University of Louisville, Bingham Humanities Hassold Theatre (2216 S 1st St)

• 10:30am – 12:00pm: Panel 3 (2 papers + Q&A)
• 12:00pm – 1:00pm: Lunch Break
• 1:00pm – 3:00pm: Panel 4 (3 papers + Q&A)
• 3:00pm – 3:15pm: Coffee Break
• 3:15pm – 4:00pm: Concluding Roundtable
• 4:30pm – 5:30pm: Gallery Reception at Cressman Center (100 E. Main St.)

Hosts:

• Miriam Kienle, Associate Professor of Art History and Visual Studies, University of Kentucky
• Jennifer Sichel, Assistant Professor of Art History and Theory, University of Louisville

Speakers:

• Julia Bryan-Wilson, Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University
• Andy Campbell, Associate Professor of Critical Studies, University of Southern California
• Ondine Chavoya, Professor of Art History, University of Texas, Austin
• Marika Cifor, Assistant Professor of Information Science, University of Washington
• Josh Franco, Head of Collecting, Smithsonian Archives of American Art
• David Getsy, Professor of Art History, University of Virginia
• Lex Lancaster, Assistant Professor of Art History, The Cooper Union
• Jeannine Tang, Assistant Professor of Performance Studies, New York University
• Marcelo Gabriel Yañez, PhD Candidate in Art History, Stanford University
• Olivia K. Young, Assistant Professor of Art History, Rice University

Exhibiting Artists:

Letitia Quesenberry, Stephen Irwin, Robert Morgan, John Brooks, Borealis, Cierra Evans, Kat Smith, and Josh Porter.

Exhibitions in the Bolivar Art Gallery:

August 30 - September 28

Front Gallery: Living Archives: A Contemporary Portrait of Queer Kentucky

Middle Gallery: Here, Black, Femme, & Queer

Back Gallery: Safe Passage (solo show by Bob Morgan)

Public reception Sept. 20, 4-5:30 pm

Quilt workshop Sept. 14, 1-4pm, with exhibiting artist Kat Smith