December History Programs Highlight Book Culture of the 1970s-1980s, Queer Artist Rex Ray
San Francisco --
The program series for December 2018 sponsored by the GLBT Historical Society will highlight the importance of books in creating San Francisco's lesbian and gay movement of the 1970s-1980s and the work of renowned San Francisco queer artist and designer Rex Ray (1956-2015). The events take place at the GLBT Historical Society Museum at 4127 18th St. in the Castro District. For more information, visit
www.glbthistory.org.
Living History Discussion
We Built a Movement From Books: Lesbian & Gay Liberation in Print
Thursday, December 6
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum
4127 18th St., San Francisco
Admission: $5.00; free for members
A panel of creators of queer culture will reminisce about the impetus books gave to the lesbian and gay movement in the 1970s-1980. The explosion of bookstores, publishing houses, organizational libraries and literature courses was an important component of San Francisco's struggle for identity and community in the years between Stonewall and the AIDS epidemic. Lesbians and gay men separately and together charted new territory, established a tradition and literally changed and saved lives. Historian James Van Buskirk will lead a conversation with gay studies pioneer Jack Collins and groundbreaking feminist publisher and bookseller Carol Seajay. Tickets are available online at https://bit.ly/2QHklZF.
Film Showing
REX RAY: How To Make a Rex Ray
Thursday, December 13
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum
4127 18th St., San Francisco
Admission: $5.00; free for members
No other contemporary artist mastered the hand-crafted aesthetic of fine art while also pushing the limits of graphic design more than San Francisco queer artist and designer Rex Ray (1956-2015). In the documentary feature
REX RAY: How to Make a Rex Ray (2009), the artist takes viewers on a tour from his hometown in Colorado Springs to his studio in San Francisco, revealing his artistic process and everyday practice. Whether creating a painting or donating a graphic design, Rex Ray continually reinvented a language to speak in the worlds of both art and computer graphics. Director Joshua V. Hassel will answer questions after the screening. Program held in conjunction with the current Front Gallery exhibition at the GLBT Historical Society Museum, "
A Picture Is a Word: The Posters of Rex Ray." Limited seating, so advance tickets are required. Tickets are available online at
https://bit.ly/2Psl5BR.
ABOUT THE GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM
Open since January 2011, the GLBT Historical Society Museum (formerly known as the GLBT History Museum) is the first full-scale, stand-alone museum of its kind in the United States. Its Main Gallery features a long-term exhibition on San Francisco LGBTQ history, "Queer Past Becomes Present." Its Front Gallery and Community Gallery host changing exhibitions. The institution also sponsors forums, author talks and other programs.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum is a project of the GLBT Historical Society, a public history center and archives that collects, preserves and interprets the history of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and the communities that support them. Founded in 1985, the society maintains one of the world's largest collections of LGBTQ historical materials. For more information, visit www.glbthistory.org.
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GRAPHICS: The following images may be reproduced in association with coverage of the GLBT Historical Society program series. Credits noted in captions are mandatory.
December 6: We Built a Movement From Books
Carol Seajay, Pell, Sherry Thomas, Tiana Arruda and Kit Quan at the Old Wives Tales women's bookstore in San Francisco (1982). Photo: Joan E. Biren (JEB); used with permission.
December 13: How to Make a Rex Ray
Artist Rex Ray at work. Film still from REX RAY: How to Make a Rex Ray (2009) by director Joshua V. Hassel; used with permission.
