The 3rd Annual Gender Joy Art Show is here! This year’s show will be held in the Zeitgeist atrium from May 4 - June 27 with an opening reception on Thursday, May 7 from 5-7pm.
Each year, YWCA Duluth showcases artwork created by girls, women and gender-expansive folks and invites the public to an opening reception to celebrate this work that symbolizes the joy each artist finds in their gender(s). This year, we’ve partnered with PAVSA to show artwork created by sexual assault survivors too.
Another addition to this year's show is a community art project titled "The Elephant in the Room", hosted by Rachel Gilbertson from Art of Presence. Participants will be invited to write words or short phrases on a large canvas representing harmful messages they have received because of their gender identity and return to splatter vibrant paint over the canvas, using different colors, tools, and shapes. Rachel will complete the artwork by painting a portion of an elephant’s face emerging from the layered words and splattered color. The elephant symbolizes the “elephant in the room” — the unspoken realities connected to gender that are widely felt yet often left unacknowledged.