The QUEER|ART COMMUNITY PORTRAIT PROJECT is an annual commission of digital portraits, celebrating artists who are part of our diverse and vibrant community.
The 2020 Queer|Art Community Portrait Project is made possible with lead support from HBO.
For the Queer|Art Community Portrait Project, artists from across different disciplines and generations gather once a year to participate in a marathon photoshoot event, sitting for their portraits as representatives of the Queer|Art community. Over time, the project will chart nuances of generational and personal growth within the community—as many artists return and new artists are welcomed into the mix—all seen through the lens of a different photographer each year.
“Poems, Playlists, Recipes, and Rituals”: The Queer|Art Community Portrait Project Release Party celebrates the launch of the 2020 Community Portrait Project Publication, with commissioned photographer Felicita “Felli” Maynard and members of the Queer|Art|Mentorship community sharing some of their personal strategies for creative resilience in the form of a series of unique and lively offerings–including performances, readings, rituals, cooking demonstrations, and more! Presenting artists include: Felicita "Felli" Maynard, Candystore, Nelson Santos, Marco DaSilva, Heather Lynn Johnson, Olaiya Olayemi, and others to be announced soon.
This year, the Community Portrait Project takes the form of a beautiful, unbound publication comprised of a scrapbook-like compilation of strategies for creative resilience offered by the photographed artists.
Each publication comes encased in a glossy tarot card-sized box, perfect for taking it on the go. In addition to the complete suite of artist portraits shot by 2020 Queer|Art|Mentorship Fellow Felicita “Felli” Maynard, each deck contains a diversity of handmade offerings, including poems, playlists, recipes, rituals, reading lists, drawings, and assorted artworks.
In that same spirit of collective care, Queer|Art is paying your generous support forward. 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Queer|Art|Mentorship Giving Circle, an initiative launched in May 2020 in response to the COVID-19 crisis that helps ensure no artist in our community goes without basic needs as we navigate this pandemic together. The Giving Circle pools donations from members of our community and provides direct financial aid to artists who need support defraying the cost of essentials. Learn more about the Giving Circle here.
As we reflect on the current state of affairs and look for inspiration in the legacy of creative resilience that has shaped our community’s survival for decades, a deck of vibrant portraits alongside a collection of artist procedures for holding steady together feels like the perfect gift we can give ourselves.
2020 GALLERY
Photographer: Felicita “felli” maynard
The commission for the 2020 Queer|Art Community Portrait Project was awarded to Felicita “Felli” Maynard, who had assisted their Mentor Lola Flash during the 2019 Community Portrait Project last October on the Christopher Street piers. Now, Maynard comes full circle, inheriting the role of their Mentor as the photographer entrusted with documenting our community of artists in all their splendor. Earlier this fall, in accordance with COVID-19 safety regulations, Maynard conducted socially distanced shoots across three separate weekends in three different locations: Brooklyn Bridge Park, Central Park, and Prospect Park. As Maynard photographed each artist, they urged their subject to consider what queer community, family, and joy means to them, and how that unique support system has helped them weather 2020.
Click on any picture below to learn more about the person and their affiliation to Queer|Art.
These images should not be reprinted or linked without permission, and credit to the photographer and the Queer|Art Community Portrait Project must always be included. All requests for reusing any of these photographs should be directed to info@queer-art.org.
Angelo Madsen Minax
Marco DaSilva
Heather Lynn Johnson
Raja Feather Kelly
Ella Boureau
Carlos Motta
jess pretty
Sarah Sanders
Anna Campbell
Christina Quintana (CQ)
Felicita “Felli” Maynard
Anthony Rosado
Rio Sofia
Nelson Santos
Travis Chamberlain
Erica Cardwell
Ricky Maldonado
Dani Brito
Liz Collins
Patrick G. Lee
Thomas Allen Harris
April Freely
Stephen Winter
Jacob Matkov
Nancy Brooks Brody
Maria Bauman Morales
Nyala Moon
Lola Flash
Jeffrey Meris
Andrius Alvarez-Backus
Olaiya Olayemi
David Thomson
Brian Alarcon
Candystore
Eva Reign
Nile Harris
Zachary Frater
Trace Tsui
Nandita Raman
ABOUT felli maynard
Felicita “Felli” Maynard is a New York based interdisciplinary artist and educator. They received their BFA from Brooklyn College, with a concentration in film photography. As a 1st generation Afrolatinx-American, their work uses photography to investigate and explore identity, gender and history when related to the Black body. They challenge and re-write photographic history by means of their work. Maynard has shown work at Flux Factory, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, Westchester Community College, Spectrum Gallery at MCLA college, Brooklyn Photoville and Pen + Brush Gallery in NYC. This past year, Maynard worked with Mentor Lola Flash, as a Queer|Art|Mentorship Visual Art Fellow.
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