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Archives of American Art

January Programs at the Archives of American Art

What can archives show us about solidarity today? Two programs explore legacies of activism and parenthood in art

Poster with four images and white text on a blue background reading, “Out Front with Us: documenting solidarity.” Black text just below on a white background reads, “January 23rd, 1pm, McEvoy Auditorium.” The four images clockwise from top left are: 1. A
Clockwise from Top Left: 1. Leigh H. Mosley. March on Washington on the Mall, 1969. Courtesy of the artist. © Leigh H. Mosley 2. Joan E. Biren. Connie Panzarino, 1979. Gelatin silver print 35.6 × 27.8 cm (14 × 10 15/16"). National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. © JEB (Joan E. Biren) 3. Riva Leher. Zoom Portraits: Alice Wong (study), 2020. Graphite and colored pencil on paper, 40.6 × 33 cm (16 × 13"). National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. © Riva Lehrer 4. Lola Flash. "Lucky charm" from Szygy, the vision, 2020. Inkjet on paper, 24 × 36 in. (61 × 91.4 cm). © Lola Flash. Courtesy the artist. 
Poster with four images and white text on a blue background reading, “Out Front with Us: documenting solidarity.” Black text just below on a white background reads, “January 23rd, 1pm, McEvoy Auditorium.” The four images clockwise from top left are: 1. A
Clockwise from Top Left: 1. Leigh H. Mosley. March on Washington on the Mall, 1969. Courtesy of the artist. © Leigh H. Mosley 2.Joan E. Biren. Connie Panzarino, 1979. Gelatin silver print 35.6 × 27.8 cm (14 × 10 15/16"). National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. © JEB (Joan E. Biren) 3.Riva Leher. Zoom Portraits: Alice Wong (study), 2020. Graphite and colored pencil on paper, 40.6 × 33 cm (16 × 13"). National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. © Riva Lehrer 4. Lola Flash. "Lucky charm" from Szygy, the vision, 2020. Inkjet on paper, 24 × 36 in. (61 × 91.4 cm). © Lola Flash. Courtesy the artist.

Out Front with Us: Documenting Solidarity is a panel that brings archival collections into conversation with artists today to explore mutual support between LGBTQ+ and disability activism in the McEvoy auditorium at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture on Friday, January 23 at 1pm ET.  

Featuring photographers Joan E. Biren, Lola Flash, and Leigh Mosley along with painter and writer Riva Lehrer, the discussion will draw on oral histories from the Archives of American Art, the world's largest collection of interviews related to the visual arts, as well the artists' decades of experience documenting community activism.  

Highlighting collections including the oral history of John Dugdale, a photographer who lost his vision, as well as Biren, Flash, and Lehrer's own oral histories, the program participants will reflect on how recording the past emboldens our shared future.  

This event is free, please RSVP and send accommodation requests to [email protected]. 

A group of five individuals stands around a table in a brightly lit conference room. There are archival documents laid out on the table.
Left to Right: Katherine Ott, Tsedaye Makonnen, Katherine Sobering, Ben Gillespie, and Liss LaFleur at the Archives of American Art

On January 30 at 3pm ET, the Archives will present a webinar, Artistic Lines: Artists and Parenthood, featuring artists who have researched past generations’ navigation of parenthood, from the lived reality and practical facets to artists who take parenthood as subject matter in their work.  

Sculptor Liss LaFleur and sociology professor Katie Sobering teach at the University of North Texas and founded The Queer Birth Project (QBP) together, building on the original Birth Project, which was an effort by the artist Judy Chicago to document women's experiences with birth and being mothers in the 1980s. While Chicago asked how do women feel about all aspects of birth, the QBP expands the frame through surveys, installations, lectures, and interviews.  

Based in Washington, DC, Tsedaye Makonnen works with sculpture, performance, and oral history to activate community memory and sites of healing.  

This pre-recorded webinar is a collaboration between the Archives of American Art and the National Museum of American History, drawing on medical history collections and archival holdings to invite the panelists to delve into the ways parenthood has shaped artistic practice. 

 Register for the webinar here: s.si.edu/artisticlines 

Out Front with Us: Documenting Solidarity and Artistic Lines: Artists and Parenthood are supported by the Keith Haring Foundation. 

Ben Gillespie is the Arlene and Robert Kogod Secretarial Scholar for Oral History at the Archives of American Art.

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