INSTITUTE NEWS & EVENTS
ARTISTIC INQUEERIES:  Artist & Vendor Highlights!


Meet Schanna Vernon, who showcased her beautiful artwork at Haunted Hands gallery during Artistic InQUEERies!

Schanna specializes in acrylic/canvas painting, as well as pencil drawings. Her paintings center women of color, primarily black women, in ways that reveal emotion and beauty. 

Reflecting on her beginnings as an artist, Schanna expressed the following: 

"3 years ago my entire world changed when my marriage ended and I moved myself and my children into a domestic violence shelter. The next couple of years were purely about survival and putting one foot in front of the other. Once I was able to achieve some balance and stability, my focus turned towards figuring out what I wanted out of life and who I wanted to be. As this slow bloom began, I found myself frequently in the company and friendship of various artists. I saw the joy they found in creating and watched in amazement as they made beautiful things from almost nothing. I wanted that for myself.

In July of 2019, I decided that I would become an artist. I started by beginning to teach myself to draw, with the aid of books and videos. It was shortly after this that I attended a few sip and paint classes and absolutely fell in love with painting. In September of this year, I started and completed my first painting and I haven't looked back. Each piece I create leaves me feeling a little more me. I'm excited to see where it leads me and to watch the continued growth, not only in my art, but in myself.

View more of Schanna's artwork by visiting her Instagram page here


Gaia, who  performs as  Madame Peacock,  is a youth drag performer and artist, whose artwork was featured in the gallery during our Artistic InQUEERies event!

Gaia stated that others' perceptions of her art range from "abstract to basic," but emphasized that every piece she creates is "just me."

Regarding her start in drag and art, Gaia stated**: 

"So being a kid I was never good at art [per se], but like that's a dumb thing to think-- so I just started painting and/or drawing what I felt and that transformed into me doing my make up like that. So now, I just look at everything as art [be]cause everything is art. You are art.

View more of Gaia's work on her Instagram here

**Features light edits for clarity.
Queer Conexiones: This Week!
Join WOSAC for Fall Salon this Tuesday!

image description: maroon flyer with orange and gold accents. Image text reads: WOSAC Fall Salon, Exo Roast Co., 403 N 6th Ave. Featuring talks by new GWS Faculty Derrais Carter - a scholar and artist whose research interests include Black popular culture, music, and performance; & Reid Gómez - a writer and scholar interested in colonization, slavery, storytelling, and the limits of language and translation. Bring a friend who should join WOSAC! Tuesday, December 3rd, 6:30PM - 8PM. Delectable snacks, no-host bar. RSVP to 520-621-5656 or spencerl@email.arizona.edu.
Join Lydia X. Z. Brown for community discussions centering asexuality and aromantic identities, neurodiversity, and intersectional disability justice!

image description: image of Lydia X. Z. Brown, titled disability justice advocate, organizer, and writer Lydia X. Z. Brown. December 4th, 5:00-6:00PM: AROspACE Discussion: Asexuality and Neurodiversity. Disability Cultural Center, Highland Commons Rm D217. Come join AROspACE for a conversation about the intersections of asexualtiy and aromantic identity & neurodiversity. Food and beverages provided. December 5th, 4:30-7:00PM. Women & Gender Resource Center, Student Union Memorial Center, Center for Student Involvement and Leadership, 4th Floor. Come join the DCC & WGRC for dinner and to learn about the importance of disability justice from Lydia X. Z. Brown. In collaboration with Arizona Disability Cultural Center, Women & Gender Resource Center, Disability Resource Center. All events are held in physically accessible spaces & will be fragrance-free. The food provided will offer vegan and gluten free options. If you have any additional access needs contact us at disabilityculture@email.arizona.edu
Browse and purchase from thousands of books at GWS' First Annual Used Book Sale!

image description: Purple and lavendar flyer with rainbow picture of library and stack of books with one book open, pages up. Another picture underneath with a person holding a very tall stack of books. Image text reads: First Annual Gender & Women's Studies Used Book Sale. Thousands of titles to choose from! Most priced at $1, $3, or $5! Sunday, December 8th, 10AM - 2PM (Join us for brunch snacks!). Monday, December 9th, 9AM - 4PM. GWS 100 (Main Conference Room) at 925 N. Tyndall. Proceeds benefit the Monique Wittig Endowed Writers Scholarship. Purchases are NOT tax deductible. Make checks payable to UAF/Wittig Writer's Scholarship. For credit card transactions, "the UA Foundation" will appear as the vendor on your statement.
Create and learn at the TNBQ+ Poetry Workshop this weekend at the UA Poetry Center!

Saturday, Dec. 7th
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
UA Poetry Center | 1508 E Helen St
Free, open to LGBTQ+ folks and allies

Led by Tucson's Poet Laureate, TC Tolbert, this workshop centers Trans, Non-Binary, and Queer+ poetry and provides space to create and share community! No previous poetry experience is needed. This workshop is wheelchair accessible. Snacks will be provided, and participants will receive a free book of LGBTQ+ poetry.
Kindred Connections & Zami Present: 2020 Intention-Setting Workshop for QTBIPOC Folx! 

image description: split-pea soup green flyer with gold accents, and an image of a lit candle burning. Image text reads: 2020 Intention Setting. Join Kindred Connections & Zami for a New Year intention-setting workshop. We will be creating personal vision candles for the new year that we can place on our altars. We will also have a ceremony to release whatever doesn't serve us and leave it in 2019, and share what seeds we are planting for our growth, healing and abundance for 2020. Sunday, Dec. 8th @ 1PM. DM for location. This workshop is an intentional QTBIPOC only space. 
Colby Olsen Foundation Presents: True Colors Writing & Art Workshop

Every Sunday
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Gallery 2-Sun | 100 E 6th St
Free, open to LGBT+ Community, Friends, and Allies

Do you want to paint with all the colors of the wind, or find yourself expressing better through words?
The Colby Olsen Foundation is really excited to announce our True Colors Writing + Art Workshop. This workshop was created to express yourself through art, poetry, and countless exercises that encourages your personal growth and challenges to inspire others.

Join Lee Balan every Sunday, starting January 13th , from 12-2 at Gallery 2SUN, where he will be conducting many activities focusing on writing, self esteem and art.

Let Lee utilize all of his different disciplines to help you find a more artistic, original way of expressing yourself, because what's more beautiful then loving you!

Learn more about the True Colors Writing & Art Workshops  here.
CONFERENCES, CALLS, CLASSES and FUNDING
Donate to Queers United Coalition's Trans Emergency Fund!

image description: black event text over transgender flag colors. Image text reads: Queers United Coalition Presents: Trans Emergency Fund. Grants supporting trans students in need of financial assistance for tuition, housing, food, medical expenses, and more. Donate to our Venmo @queersunited. Email us if you would like to apply, priority is given to trans POC. queersuc@gmail.com
L inksGBTQ+
Follow us on  Twitter Instagram and Facebook