Queer Art Exhibition to Open at GLBT History Museum

A new exhibition of queer artworks of local historical significance, "30 Years of Collecting Art That Tells Our Stories," will open at the GLBT History Museum on Friday, May 15.

Mostly the museum exhibits primary-source documents such as letters, diaries, photographs, and oral histories that tell the story of the LGBT community in the San Francisco Bay Area. These materials are selected from the archives of the museum's parent organization, the GLBT Historical Society.

But occasionally drawings, paintings and three-dimensional artworks are donated to the society. This exhibition highlights guest curator Elisabeth Cornu's choices of artworks produced during one of the most tumultuous periods in the local LBGT liberation movement: the 1960s to the 1990s.

Cornu is an independent museum specialist, and former head of objects conservation at Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. She works as a museum studies advisor locally and internationally.

"This is the first time we've devoted an exhibition to the artworks in our holdings, because we've only recently realized what a terrific way this could be to tell some of our stories," Cornu said. "This exhibition is for everyone interested in Bay Area history, but I especially hope to bring in art-lovers who may not have visited our museum before."

The exhibition includes photographs and artifacts from the women's community enclave that emerged along Valencia Street in the city's Mission District, anchored by pioneering institutions such as the Artemis Caf� and the San Francisco Women's Building. It also includes artworks by queer men, such as a mural from the long-gone Bulldog Baths on Turk Street -- the nation's largest gay bathhouse -- and a set of handmade tarot cards called "Folsom Tarot Major Arcana."

The exhibition will fill the museum's Front Gallery and Community Gallery. No closing date has been set; the exhibition is expected to run at least through the autumn.

"30 Years of Collecting Art That Tells Our Stories" will open to the public with a free reception on Friday, May 15 from 7-9 p.m. The GLBT History Museum is located at 4127 18th St. in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood.