The multipurpose room of the Trotter Multicultural Center was lined with art Tuesday evening to celebrate Queer artistic expression. The University of Michigan Spectrum Center organized a showcase on April 2 for Queer artists to express themselves through mediums like literature, paintings and sculptures. Members of the Spectrum Center program board organized the event in collaboration with other organizations including the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs and Rackham Graduate School. Arts Initiative and the School of Music, Theatre & Dance sponsored the event. Guests also had the opportunity to make their own contributions to the art world at a craft station.
The event’s theme was “Coloring in the Blanks,” a message to show that artistic expression and Queer identities hold no limitations. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA freshman Noemie Durand, a member of the program board, said this theme was chosen to celebrate a variety of creative works.
“We have a 16-page story, we have poems, we have two sculptures, we have regular paintings, we have digital paintings, we have a bunch of different things,” Durand said. “The idea is just that Queer people specifically need to have a space to share their artworks and feel like they have a voice.”
LSA senior Leo Velasco presented his creative writing piece “Asi Fue,” which is a work of fiction that deals with elements of gender identity. Velasco said the showcase was an opportunity for Queer artists to exchange their ideas and celebrate one another.
“Events like these can really help in elevating all voices and showing other unique perspectives,” Velasco said. “All of these different identities have different stories to share and all of them are just as valid and just as deserving to be heard. It’s always nice to see other people’s art and give other artists a chance to get their work shown.”
Durand said the program board had two goals in mind when planning the event: to help inspire creativity among viewers and to celebrate the joy in being Queer.
“A lot of times being Queer can be hard and there is a lot of questioning that happens or discriminations, or tough conversations with family, so I think having time specifically to find the joy in being Queer and the joy in that community and in the things that can come from it, I think is really important,” Durand said. “I also hope people find inspiration for things like day-to-day life, how you can create art all the time, anything can be art.”
Engineering freshman Keating Dinsmore presented mixed media work. In an interview with The Daily, Dinsmore said the project reflects pressures she has faced as a Queer individual.
“I took a circle canvas and covered it with air dry clay and made spikes with added iridescent pearls and moss in it,” Dinsmore said. “In the middle there is a black hole within which I filled with an all black and white collage. I grew up in the Upper Peninsula, where I came out as Queer and it was a pretty conservative area, so I just always felt the pressure of everyone’s religion on me and like I was falling into a deep hole, and whenever I tried to grab out of it, it hurts, which is what the spikes mean.”
Nursing sophomore Chazia Siskowski created acrylic artworks, one of which was a self-portrait meant to capture the duality of her mental health. Siskowski said this portrait highlights her self-image and her mental state.
“(The portrait is) just about pretty much how I perceive myself to be,” Siskowski said. “I think there is no art without diversity and being able to just express yourself and not feel like there’s a wall that I have to fit in or a box that I have to fit in to show my creativity.”
In an interview with The Daily, Rackham student Sharmane Powell said they enjoyed seeing people be able to express themselves without limits.
“All of the artwork is super in-depth,” Powell said. “I’ve been asking the artists about their interpretations of the work and it’s very interdisciplinary, very emotional and I love it; everyone’s art is great. When I think of diversity in art, I think of the pride flag. It’s a spectrum of colors and that spectrum of colors needs to be reflected in the art world and not be limited because people are not limited in their expressions.”
Daily Staff Reporter Audrey Shabelski can be reached at audres@umich.edu.