Deadline: April 7
Vulnerable people are under attack by powerful forces seeking to denigrate and vilify those who are different from the norm, as they see it. The LGTBQ+ community is made up of many veterans of these types of attacks. Not that long ago, LGBTQ+ was not allowed to exist while bigotry and violence against the community was endorsed by the government. Slowly there was an evolution towards acceptance by the greater community but LGBTQ+ individuals were still denied basic equal protection under the law until 2015 (yes that recent!) when the Supreme Court affirmed that Fourteenth Amendment rights apply to all Americans, not just a select few.
We hear shouts about Second Amendment rights all the time, but when was the last time you heard anyone shouting about the Fourteenth Amendment? Sadly, despite how far the country has moved forward, this equal protection is under attack again.
Pride Month gives the LGBTQ+ community the opportunity to celebrate and to show pride in being who they were born as. The root of Pride, however, was as a Civil Rights movement. Just as with the Black community’s struggle for sustained civil rights, the need for a LGBTQ+ civil rights movement didn’t miraculously end. It is as important today as it was in 1969 at the Stonewall Inn.
For Pride 2023, Creative Grape seeks artists that embrace the ideals of equal protection. We seek one or two powerful messengers for the LGBTQ+ community, that both celebrate the joy of life but also recognize the challenges that the community faces. We plan to install the exhibit in mid-May with the show running through the end of June (possibly into the first week of July). Details to be decided, including a date for an Opening Reception. Work should be in a format that can hang on a wall with varying scale, allowing for affordable purchases through grand show pieces. While sensuality is always welcome, explicitly sexual works would not be appropriate for our space regardless of orientation.
Please submit samples of your work to info@creativegrape.com for consideration before April 7, 2023. If we feel it is appropriate, we will reach out to view a larger body of work and have a discussion. We plan to make final decisions by April 14.
For more information and to apply, click here.
