I Still Love You

Queer and trans BIPOC Bay Area writers conjure their queer ancestors and living legends from the archives through original poetry, artwork and historical treasures. An artistic conversation that suspends time and space, this exhibit pays homage to the power of writing and the complex lineages of people and places that made us.

Features original poetry generated by participating writers and teaching artists during the ground-breaking Kaleidoscope writing workshop that took place at the San Francisco Public Library in 2022. Co-curated by Tina Bartolome and Natalia M. Vigil.

Opening Reception with book giveaways, free portrait photography, appetizers and more on Saturday, March 25 at 4 p.m.

 

Artists in this exhibition: Amalia Macias-Laventure, Izaac Limón, J. Torres, JTL, Joemae Santos, Mason J., Natalia Vigil, S.C. Smith, Shay X. Gee, tanea lunsford lynx, Tiara Amar, Tina Bartolome, Tina V. Aguirre, vero majano, Zara Jamshed, Ziggy Ann DeBerry

Archival portraits by: Marcel Pardo Ariza, Robert Giard and Lynda Koolish

Ancestors honored: Adela Vasquez, Audre Lorde, Barbara Cameron, Charles Rodney Taylor, Chrystos, Francisco X. Alarcón, Gary Fisher, Gloria Anzaldúa, Jewelle Gomez, June Jordan, Justin Chin, Kitty Tsui, Leslie Feinberg, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Pat Parker, Sylvester, Urvashi Vaid

Connect: Izaac Limón - Instagram | J. Torres - Instagram | Shay X. Gee - website | tanea lunsford lynx - website | Zara Jamshed - Instagram | Ziggy Ann DeBerry - Instagram

 

About the Co-curators:

Tina Bartolome was born and raised in San Francisco, the daughter of working-class immigrants from the Philippines and Switzerland. Somewhere between coming out, facing eviction, writing on walls, and fighting racist propositions, she joined the movement and never looked back. Bartolome is a storyteller and social justice educator striving to continue the legacies of Paulo Freire, June Jordan and other freedom fighters who show us the way. Her writing can be found in Black Power Afterlives: The Enduring Significance of the Black Panther Party and Still Here: An Anthology of Queer and Trans People Raised in San Francisco.

Natalia M. Vigil is a queer Xicana writer with native heritage, a multimedia curator, and big sister of six, born and raised in San Francisco. Vigil is an arts administrator passionate about community-driven creativity and cultural preservation through artist sustainability. Vigil is the co-founder of Still Here San Francisco for which she was honored as a Local Hero by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission.

This exhibit is a partnership between the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, Queer Ancestors Project (QAP) and Still Here San Francisco (SHSF). QAP is devoted to forging sturdy relationships between LGBTQI people and our ancestors. SHSF is an intergenerational cultural preservation project amplifying the voices and creativity of LGBTQ2S+ Black, Indigenous, and People of Color raised in San Francisco.

 

Image credit: Photo by MSanchez.Studio. Text from the Hormel Center Archives, by Pat Parker (left) & Barbara Cameron (right).