Salons: Women and Queer Artists, Sept-Dec 2012 & June 2014

In the fall of 2012, John C. Morris and Melissa Schaeffer collaborated with powerhouse Sophie Touzé, a dynamic lecturer and well-versed art historian, to create a weekly art salon focused on Women Artists; the salon lasted nine weeks. Within the 1896 carriage house at the Auerbach Artist Colony, Sophie shared her in-depth knowledge through stories and slides to twenty engaged participants. Auerbach Artist Colony’s Melissa Schaeffer, Woman Artist, made morsels (that Alice B. Toklas would be proud of), served with wine in tea cups. We looked forward to Monday nights, when we would learn and discuss the people who are often overlooked by the art establishment and who are always already entirely essential: Women Artists.

The Queer Artists Salon, a weekend-long queer art intensive took place during a beautiful early June weekend in 2014. There were eight talks spanning queer art from Ancient Greece to activist art in Contemporary Oakland. As participants, we were all inspired and moved by the stories we had never heard and artworks we had never seen. Queer is courage; Queer artists, courageous.

Talks and discussions were led by:

ADRIENNE SKYE-ROBERTS, MA, Visual and Critical Studies, CCA

AMY CANCELMO, MA, Queer Art History, SFSU

JARED LEDESMA, MA, Art History, SFSU & SFMOMA staff

JOHN C. MORRIS, MA, Museum Studies, Johns Hopkins (in progress)

JOSH SAULPAW, MA, Queer Art History, UC Davis

Topics presented:

Saturday, June 7th, 11AM to 1PM (Session 1)

“Gay Europe: A Homoerotic Visual Tour of Classical Greece, Rome, and Renaissance Italy.” (Josh)

“The ‘Modern’ Woman and Lesbian expatriates at the turn of the century.” (Amy)

Saturday, June 7th, 2 to 4PM (Session 2)

“Sexy Sailors: The Development of an Icon in an Emerging Queer Community.” (Josh)

“Publications, Pulp & Fanboys: Lesbian Pulp, On our Backs & Original Plumbing.” (Amy)

Sunday, June 8th, 11 to 1 (Session 3)

“Craft & Confrontation: Lesbian art in the 80’s & 90’s.” (Amy)

“Responses to AIDS: The AIDS Memorial Quilt, Keith Haring, Felix Gonzalez-Torres and others.” (Jared, Josh & John)

Sunday, June 8th 2 to 4 (Session 4)

“Trial and Persecution: Oscar Wilde to Stonewall.” (Josh)

Visibility, Activism & the Artist: A conversation between curator and artist (Amy and Adrienne Skye-Roberts)

As a follow-up to the Queer Artists Salon (QAS), art historian Sophie Touzé asked John to lead a group of her students from the City College of San Francisco through the exhibition Keith Haring: The Political Line at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park on November 15th, 2014. John’s gallery talk focused on the political aspect of Keith Haring’s artwork and his powerful, artistic responses to the AIDS Crisis, Apartheid, Global Warming, Capitalism, and other global issues throughout the 1980s. Haring is a personal and artistic hero of John’s, and it was an honor to give a talk on his art, political views, and lasting impact.