Our second April Awareness Days Event, Arts in Action, is a panel discussion on art, activism, and education. The panel will start at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 6, in Gilman 132. Our panelists are:
Stephen Vider:
Stephen Vider is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Museum of the City of New York, where he was co-curator of the recent exhibition Gay Gotham: Art and Underground Culture in New York and co-author of the accompanying book, recently named a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. He is currently organizing a new exhibition, AIDS at Home: Art and Everyday Activism, which will be on view at the MCNY from May to October. AIDS at Home draws on research from his forthcoming book, Queer Belongings: Gay Men, Lesbians, and the Politics of Home After World War II, to be published by University of Chicago Press, examining how American conceptions of the home have shaped LGBT relationships and politics from 1945 to the present. His writing has appeared in the academic journals American Quarterly and Gender & History, as well as popular publications including The New York Times, Avidly, Time, and Slate. Vider received his PhD from Harvard University in American studies in 2013, and will be starting next fall as a visiting assistant professor in public history at Bryn Mawr College.
Rahne Alexander:
Rahne Alexander is a multimedia artist, musician, and performer. Her video art has been screened in galleries and festivals across the country, and she is an alumna of the Experimental Television Center. Queer Interiors, Rahne's collaborative multimedia installation, was commissioned by the Baltimore Museum of Art in 2016 and will be on display through August. A component of this installation,The Baltimore LGBTQI+ Home Movie Quilt, was awarded a Saul Zaentz Fund Innovation in Film and Media fellowship. She performs frequently with several bands, including Santa Librada, Guided By Wire, and The Degenerettes. She is a former organizer for the Transmodern Festival and the Maryland Film Festival, where she served five years in charge of operations and development. Alexander has since lent her organizational and development assistance to several organizations, including the March on Washington Film Festival (DC), Le Mondo (Baltimore), and Wide Angle Youth Media.
Will Bryson:
Will Bryson is a Baltimore-based filmmaker. He studied film and video production at the University of Memphis and is enrolled in MICA's filmmaking MFA program. Bryson is a Saul Zaentz Fund fellow. He is most passionate about increasing minority representation in all media, especially children's entertainment. Bryson produced and directed the film Snack Time, which premiered at the Indie Memphis Film Festival and won the "Best Hometowner" award. He produced the short film Eden, which premiered at the 2016 Maryland Film Festival. Bryson is currently working on Milo's Misfits, an LGBT-centric, all-ages series about a persnickety man with silly puppet roommates.
Shanti Flagg:
Shanti Flagg is an Indian artist and reiki master. She works as the studio manager for the Monument Quilt, a safe space by and for survivors of rape and abuse. She is a lesbian feminist activist.
