We are excited to release the application to participate in our first Digital Storytelling Workshop!  

UPDATE: the application has now closed.  Thank you to all for your interest and for sharing your awesome stories.

Personal stories are the fabric of history.  The history that we recognize today is built upon the stories that make it into our historical institutions: museums, libraries and archives.  Yet, very few historical narratives include information about people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer (LGBTQ) or not straight.  LGBTQ peoples are present in every community; across racial, ethnic, economic, geographic and other social dividers–we are there.  Weaving our stories into larger historical narratives is important for ensuring that our presence and contributions are remembered and recognized.

This Digital Storytelling Workshop will give 10 participants a chance to be remembered and recognized.  Different than recording a life history, this workshop will guide participants through a process of selecting a significant life moment and constructing a visual-audio narrative about that experience.  The resulting 3 minute video will be a self-created representation of one person’s experience of being LGBTQ in the Pacific Northwest.

The videos created will be publicly screened at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) on Saturday June 8 2013.  In addition, participants will have the opportunity to contribute their videos to archive and library collections and for consideration in the queer-themed history exhibit which will open at MOHAI in 2014.

So, spread the word!  Invite your friends to apply.  Send the application to community groups that serve LGBTQ populations.  Nominate someone who you think has a great personal story.  And fill out the application yourself.

Applications must be received by Friday March 8, 2013.   Details and application are here.

One element of my PhD dissertation work will be a Seattle-based Digital Storytelling Project. I am excited about this model of collecting individual histories because it gives so much of the content ownership to the person whose story is being told.
This summer, I am working with Erin to create a Community Advisory Committee that will help us select 10 individuals for participation. In February, those 10 local LGBTQ individuals will participate in a 3 Day workshop where they will be led through the process of reflecting on their own lives and selecting one story to tell. Participants will actually record their own narration, provide photos and music and be guided through the editing process to create a 2 to 3 minute video. The videos will be screened for the first time at the Queering the History Museum Symposium in May 2013!
This project is intended to add to the historical record and preserve the narratives of LGBTQ peoples, peoples whose stories are often left out.
Contact us if you want to know more about the project, or how you can help!
Nicole

Erin and I are so excited that Queering the (Art) Museum is almost here!  We were at The Space this weekend hanging the art for Hide//See//Difference//Desire//NW.  Wow!  We are so lucky to be including the work of many talented local artists.  This is a show you will want to see.  Happily, the show will be on display through the end of July, thanks to a partnership with The Space and The Rainbow Center.

Please come out and support the events this weekend.  We have an exciting range of activities including art talks, panel discussions, art tours and a big queer party!  Bring your friends.

Event details here: http://www.queeringthemuseum.org/events

See you there!

Queering the Museum’s first event is almost here!  We are so excited for the line up of events!

Friday evening, May 11th, features keynote presentations from Jonathan Katz, co-curator of Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, Rock Hushka and Stephanie Stebich from the Tacoma Art Museum, where Hide/Seek is currently on display.

On Saturday, a panel will discuss the state of queer in museums in what promises to be a lively conversation titled “Where Do We Go from Here?”

Then Katz will lead a tour of Hide/Seek at the Tacoma Art Museum

The day concludes with the opening of local queer art show Hide/Seek/Difference//Desire//NW and a fabulous free party featuring the music of Tender Forever at The Space in Tacoma.

More details here. Reserve your tickets here.

See you there!

Update: We met our fundraising goal!  Thank you to all who supported our effort.

Be sure and join us at Queering the (Art) Museum on May 11th and 12th.  Register in advance at http://www.henryart.org

Original Post: With Queering the (Art) Museum just around the corner, we are in a final fund raising push. We only need a few hundred dollars to make our goal.  Check our kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1015419231/queering-the-art-museum  Support us if you can and share the link with your networks.  Together, we are creating space for change!

We are so excited to launch this passion project.  Our very first event is happening in a few short weeks.  Read about Queering the (Art) Museum here: https://queeringthemuseum.org/events/

And we are thrilled to announce that we have reached an agreement with Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry for a Queering the (History) Museum project in 2013!  Watch this space for more details.  We hope that these projects will gather community momentum to ensure a continuous presence of queer people, queer ideas and queer representations in museums, far and wide.