SAN DIEGO, Calif. – In response to recent troubling news headlines, The Studio Door art gallery in San Diego announces an LGBTQ positive visual arts exhibition that reminds the community of their inner strength and resilience. A national call for artists has been released for the June 2017 exhibition called Proud, which encourages LGBTQ artists to present contemporary artworks that celebrate the unique sense of pride that comes from the diverse community.
Produced by The Studio Door. Proud will run from June 2 – 25, 2017. This exhibition takes place in honor of the Stonewall Riots during National Pride Month. The exhibit is also a precursor to San Diego’s Pride celebrations, which are held in July. Details on the call for artists is located on CaFÉ at https://www.callforentry.org/
“For many in our community, the election results and the turmoil across the globe for the LGBTQ community have us worried about our rights and how our lives will be impacted by the new administration. You can see on social media, people are scared and confused,” said Patric Stillman, artist and owner of The Studio Door. “I felt that I should creatively take action to use the gallery as an outlet for authentic viewpoints from my community that underscore our unique identities, lifestyles, and diversity. We have a lot to be proud of and we will need to call upon that inner strength to face the challenges ahead of us. Proud is a reminder to celebrate that which makes us fabulous.”
San Diego Pride along with Art of Pride, a LGBT arts organization, have joined together to create an auxiliary exhibition that will feature regional artists at the local Pride office. Stillman considers this as the first step in expanding the exhibition beyond the walls of the gallery and into community spaces that will bring more attention to the work and remind the greater community of our humanity during this divisive time.
Proud will be juried by Alex Fialho, Visual AIDS Programs Director and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Research and Curatorial Associate (New York City). In addition to being a frequent contributor to Artforum, Fialho curated “Michael Richards: Winged” last summer at the Arts Center at Governors Island this summer that received rave reviews in the New York Times and his collection of oral histories will be part of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art’s forthcoming “Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic Oral History Project.” Founded in 1988, Visual AIDS is an arts organization that connects HIV/AIDS awareness with the visual arts. A reminder that the fight against HIV/AIDS is not over.
Patric Stillman is the creator of the internationally successful gay male Tarot deck, Brotherhood Tarot. Two years ago, he opened The Studio Door as an arts incubator dedicated to the creative marketplace and the promotion of contemporary artists. Located in the vibrant San Diego neighborhood of North Park, the facility showcases an art gallery, working artists studios, art instruction, and art-to-market programming. In 2016, Patric Stillman was named Mentor of The Year by Professional Artist Magazine. The Studio Door is a member of Greater San Diego Business Association (Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce), North Park Main Street, and countless arts organizations. Continuing the theme of identity, Stillman plans to hold a solo show of his own work following Proud in a July exhibit titled Person, Place or Thing. For more details on Proud or The Studio Door, visit www.thestudiodoor.com.
