Queer Art Immersion at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm invites LGBTQIA+ adults to engage in several artist workshops centering self-expression and exploration as well as guided conversations around identity, culture, and the history of art making. Each workshop will incorporate natural or recycled materials, and encourage sustainable art making practices.
Workshops will include Paper Mache led by Kyle Warnock, To Glue and Make New: The Meaning of Collage led by Sasha Kohan, Natural Weaving led by Verónica A. Pérez, Block Printing 101, Eco-Printing and Bundle-Dyeing led by River Nation, and Creating a Resistance Poetry Zine led by Central Maine Artists For Justice.
Who can attend? All overnight participants must be LGBTQIA+ and 18+. All artist skill levels are welcome. Our selection process prioritizes those in rural and underserved regions of Maine, BIPOC, and people with disabilities. Rarely are we not able to confirm everyone who pre-registers; however pre-registration does not guarantee attendance. You will receive email from info@queerlyme.org within 2-3 business days of your form submission with a link to confirm your attendance.
Overnight participants will be prioritized, and overnight spots are limited. The sliding scale for participants who stay overnight is $100 - $200; this includes all 6 unique artist workshops and overnight lodging for a two-night stay. Workshop participation is up to each individual! You do not need to participate in every activity.
The cost for participants who do not stay overnight is $25.00 per workshop. Whether or not a workshop is open to day visitors will be communicated to those who fill out this form once overnight participants are taken into account.
Amenities: Overnight accommodations are available in a dorm room building 0.5 miles away from campus. This building is reserved only for Queer Art Immersion participants. The dorm building features all basic house amenities including a kitchen equipped with all standard appliances and a living room in which some workshops will take place. There are restrooms with showers. Wifi is available. Linens (sheets, blankets, pillows, towels) provided in rooms, and each room sleeps 2-4 individuals. There is a wheelchair accessible restroom and dorm room on site. Participants are expected to bring their own food for the weekend, although there are restaurants and cafes within ten minutes of campus that participants are welcome to order from.
Should cost pose a barrier to participation, please reach out to info@queerlyme.org for financial aid options.
Schedule:
Friday December 11th:
4:00PM - 6:00PM Overnight participants can check in between 4:00PM and 6:00PM.
6:00PM - 8:00PM Paper Mache & Paper Clay led by Kyle Warnock. Learn about various paper mache methods as well as how to create paper clay. Participants will create a small sculpture or mask using paper mache which can optionally be used as the base for other techniques learned during the weekend. For example, a participant could make a paper mache sculpture that they later incorporate collage, weaving, and eco-print techniques onto.
8:00PM - 10:00PM Open Art Time. Work on Queer Art Immersion projects, bring your personal art to work on in a community space, or take time to decompress and recharge.
Saturday December 12th:
7:00AM - 10:00AM Breakfast and Open Art Time. Bring your own, or grab a breakfast bar, fruit, coffee, or tea from Queerly ME’s breakfast offerings. Work on Queer Art Immersion projects, or bring your personal art to work on in a community space.
10:00AM - 12:00PM Block Printing 101.
12:00PM - 1:00PM Lunch. Bring your own!
1:00PM - 3:00PM Open Art Time. Work on Queer Art Immersion projects, or bring your personal art to work on in a community space.
3:00PM - 5:00PM Natural Weaving led by Verónica A. Pérez. Create a personal memory tapestry by braiding and weaving natural materials and a chosen personal object. Through intentional material selection, tactile techniques, and guided dialogue anchored by queer and BIPOC artists, participants weave narratives of identity and self-assurance.
5:00PM - 6:00PM Dinner. Bring your own or order out!
6:00PM - 8:00PM To Glue and Make New: The Meaning of Collage led by Sasha Kohan. A montage. A multitude. Fracture. Mutilate. What does it mean to collage? The artistic act of cutting and pasting is more than a creative technique: collage can be a cultural method, a political resistance, a personal practice, and more. From early Chinese papermaking to Victorian patch portraits, the essence of collage infiltrated human instincts long before the mixed media of Picasso and Kruger became high art. This workshop will explore the history of collage, significant collage artists, a touch of philosophy, and some tips and tricks for first-timers fashioning a new reality from scraps. Once armed with the tools to reimagine your own visual language, you will be set loose with materials to gut and glue a fragmentation of your own – a reconstruction, a contradiction, an impulse. Another version of the truth lies within this wood! Come learn a little about a deceptively simple art form and see what sticks.
8:00PM - 10:00PM Open Art Time. Work on Queer Art Immersion projects, bring your personal art to work on in a community space, or take time to decompress and recharge.
Sunday December 13th:
7:00AM - 10:00AM Breakfast and Open Art Time. Bring your own, or grab a breakfast bar, fruit, coffee, or tea from Queerly ME’s breakfast offerings. Work on Queer Art Immersion projects, or bring your personal art to work on in a community space.
10:00AM - 12:00PM: Creating a Resistance Poetry Zine led by Central Maine Artists For Justice. Zines have always been on the front line of underground arts and resistance culture. Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"? Today, that would be a zine. The Women's Suffragist Papers from the 1840s? Zines. What about David Walker's abolitionist pamphlets, hidden in the lining of his coat, so that he could spread and build the movement against slavery? And the Riot Grrrl movement comics of the 1990s? All of these are examples of early ways of collective information sharing and resistance. It was in the 1930s that these do-it-yourself pamphlets became known as "zines," and a variety of types emerged, including that of the poetry chapbook. In this workshop, participants will pair the collectivist DIY medium of zines with the power of resistance poetry to write a zine that shares their values and beliefs as Queer individuals. In addition to an overview of the history of zines and reviewing several well-known resistance poems, participants will engage in facilitated discussions on distinctions and overlaps between what is "art" and what is "activism" and the power of DIY publishing. At the end of the workshop, participants will share their zines with each other and engage in a post-workshop reflection.
12:00PM - 1:00PM Lunch. Bring your own or order out!
1:00PM - 3:00PM Eco-Printing & Bundle-Dyeing led by River Nation.
3:00PM - 4:00PM Participants will wrap up art projects and head out by 4:00PM.
Schedule and workshops are subject to change pending weather conditions, illness, or other unprecedented circumstances. We are committed to communicating any changes as soon as they happen to all confirmed participants.