Engendered Species

G.E.N.D.E.R.S. July 1-2 West Hollywood

2006-06-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

G.E.N.D.E.R.S
GenderQueer Equality Now:
Deconstructing Everything, Revitalizing S/spirits
FREE!

July 1-2, 2006
Plummer Park in the City of West Hollywood
7377 Santa Monica Boulevard
Saturday night, July 1, 7-10 PM: A mixture of performance, invocation, and celebration

Sunday, July 2, 10 AM-6 PM: Un-workshops and Meditation
A series of unique, interactive group experiences that will change, empower, and move

www.genderqueerrevolution.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/genderqueerrevolution

G.E.N.D.E.R.S., a unique conference/retreat, a truly genderqueer celebration. At every step of the way, we're finding ways to make G.E.N.D.E.R.S. as inclusive, interactive, and experiential as possible, removing that line between performer/presenter and audience, whatever these terms mean anyway. We're also making sure to go beyond the academic, artistic, artisanal, cause-oriented, psychological/spiritual, crossing race, class, color, ability, sexuality, gender, genderqueer/gendergiftedness, but rather melding seemingly separate spheres.

Saturday Night: Think "party," a kick-off celebration, plus a symbolic call to G.E.N.D.E.R.S., mixed in with some interactive performances, "living art," and a few surprises. With special guests Talia Mae Bettcher, riKu Matsuda, and Ricky "Daddy Rick" Garcia.

Sunday: Un-workshops featuring Shirley Bushnell, Mike/Michelle Dennis, Rabbi Levi, Zara Ersoff, ATG, Dan Dumont, Kale, and more! Un-workshop descriptions coming soon.

Art: Rather than having a separate art show, we're incorporating the Art into the jubilation, celebration, invocation, shared group experiences, and un-workshops that will make up the whole gestalt of the G.E.N.D.E.R.S. experience. Everything will blend together throughout the conference, boundaries blurring, and people, experiences, and things becoming One. Really. Throughout G.E.N.D.E.R.S., consider the art as another conference participant, in the midst of and a part of it all. The art, as will we all, lend its energy to the whole and come away from it transformed and changed at a cosmic level. Featuring art from Rikki, Kale, Dan Dumont, Jaguar B., Sean-Michael Bryce, Diane Rans, Rabbi Levi, and more!

Quiet/Safe Room: Feel free to avail of the Quiet Room as part of your G.E.N.D.E.R.S. experience for meditation, reflection, reading, and study.

Changing Room: Open to all genders throughout the conference.

Raffles, Prizes, and Art: You will have opportunities to win raffles as well as purchase unique genderqueer art. Proceeds go toward supporting genderqueer culture, outreach, and more genderqueeriffic events in the future! Donations will also be gladly received at the door to support GenderQueer Revolution.

Registration: Please send email to genderqueerrevolution@gmail.com with your preferred name and pronoun, your organization(s), how you heard about G.E.N.D.E.R.S., and your contact information.

More surprises and information coming soon ~ STAY TUNED!

Special thanks to the West Hollywood Transgender Taskforce, Rich Ryan, The City of West Hollywood, Babeland, and other GenderQueer Revolution partners

In friendship and solidarity in the Revolution,

GenderQueer Revolution Board
Mike/Michelle Dennis, Rabbi Levi, Alexander Yoo

TRANS/GIVING

2006-05-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

Trans/Giving
L.A.'s only showcase and display of art, music, performance, and
literature from trans/genderqueer/intersex artists
Celebrates sex
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - Trans/Giving's May showcase celebrates sex with a
hot and steamy spring show!
The sex-abration takes place on May 27th from 6:00-9:30 at Fiesta
Hall, Plummer Park, 1200 N. Vista St. West Hollywood, CA 90046.

We have a fabulous array of performers for this special show,
including Helen Wong and Trans As Fuck with Storm Florez, Annie
Danger, and Seeley Quest. We will have two steamy fashion shows from
Babeland and Glamour Boutique and enjoy hot visual art by Dan Dumont,
Mea Starr, Faith and Eva Sweeney.

This show is 18 and up and will include explicit sexual content.

The show might include triggers for some people. We will warn people
before certain acts and will have a safe space for people to go to who
don't want to watch some of the show.

This is the last show that Trans/Giving's founder and director Ryka
Aoki will be curating. She has worked so hard to give Trans/Giving the
respect and popularity it has now. We are very sad to see her go but
we know she will accomplish many other groundbreaking things.

And if that's not enough to excite you, these wonderful artists will
be bringing their work to sell, and Toys in Babeland will be raffling
off some of their goodies. These one of a kind fun treats would be
perfect for your lover.

Y'all cannot miss this, folks! Suggested donation is $5-20, with no
one turned away for lack of funds. For more information, visit our
web site at http://www.transgiving.org!

Now in its 3rd year, Trans/Giving is Los Angeles' pioneering
trans/genderqueer/intersex get-together, art show and performance series.

Volunteers are always welcome in a variety of avenues. If you are
interested please send an email to transgiving-volunteers@yahoogroups.com.

Five Year Celebration

2006-05-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

FRESH MEAT celebrates FIVE YEARS! www.freshmeatproductions.org

Did you know that Fresh Meat Productions is the nation’s only arts organization offering year-round transgender arts programs? We need your support now to ensure our groundbreaking programs are here for years to come…

What began as a single performance event five years ago has grown into a dynamic multidisciplinary arts organization presenting performance, dance, literary arts, visual art and media arts. This year, over 14,000 people will attend Fresh Meat Productions’ events. And we’re still growing at breakneck speed!

The annual Fresh Meat Festival of Transgender and Queer Performance, Sean Dorsey’s Dance Company, our visual arts exhibitions and media arts events … we do all this and more with the energy and love of dedicated volunteers, passionate artists, a hardworking production team, and one very overworked Artistic Director!

Fresh Meat has reached an important juncture – as we celebrate our Fifth Anniversary, we need your help to support our rapidly-growing programs and sustain the organization into the future.

BECOME A COMMUNITY PARTNER OR DONOR

We are calling on the communities we serve to join with us in our work to support transgender art and culture, promote emerging and established artists, create dialogue and build community.

Consider becoming a Community Partner, Community Sponsor or donor to support our Fifth Anniversary Fresh Meat Festival this June.

Opportunities to give begin at $50 and your generous donation is fully tax-deductible.

THE BENEFITS OF SUPPORTING FRESH MEAT ($50-$1,000)

Along with the satisfaction of supporting a groundbreaking organization and one of our community’s most recognized and celebrated events, you will also receive the following benefits:
(info also at www.freshmeatproductions.org/support.html)

Fresh Meat Friend --> $50

* Acknowledgement in the Festival program

Community Sponsor --> $100-$225

* Acknowledgement in the Festival program

* Contributions of $175 and up: 2 tickets to performance of your choice

Bronze Community Partner --> $250

* Premiere Festival sponsorship

* Acknowledgement in the Festival program

* Acknowledgement in Festival promotion

* Prominent acknowledgement in the theater lobby

* Access to display your business or organization’s materials in the theater lobby

* 2 tickets to the performance of your choice

Silver Community Partner --> $500

* Premiere Festival sponsorship

* Direct access to Fresh Meat audiences to present your organization’s mission and message before a Festival performance

* A quarter-page ad in the Festival program

* Acknowledgement in Festival promotion

* Acknowledgement and web link to your business/organization on our website;

* Prominent acknowledgement in the theater lobby

* Access to display your business or organization’s materials in the theater lobby

* 4 tickets to the performance of your choice

* 1 item of Fresh Meat merchandise of your choice

Gold Community Partner --> $750

* Premiere Festival sponsorship

* Direct access to Fresh Meat audiences to present your organization’s mission and message before the performance of your choice

* A quarter-page ad in the Festival program

* Acknowledgement in Festival promotion

* Acknowledgement and web link to your business/organization on our website;

* Prominent acknowledgement in the theater lobby

* Access to display your business or organization’s materials in the theater lobby

* 6 tickets to the performance of your choice

* 2 items of Fresh Meat merchandise of your choice

Platinum Community Partner --> $1,000

* Premiere Festival sponsorship

* Direct access to Fresh Meat audiences to present your organization’s mission and message before the performance of your choice

* A half-page ad in the Festival program

* Acknowledgement in Festival publicity and promotion

* Acknowledgement and web link to your business/organization on our website;

* Prominent acknowledgement in the theater lobby

* Access to display your business or organization’s materials in the theater lobby

* 8 tickets to the performance of your choice

* 2 items of Fresh Meat merchandise of your choice

The Fresh Meat Festival is the region’s highest profile transgender arts event, consistently drawing sold-to-capacity audiences and substantial media attention. Your support will provide you a rare opportunity to directly connect to a large segment of the LGBT community that is loyal and enthusiastic. As a Community Partner or Community Sponsor, your business or organization will gain prime access to hundreds of enthusiastic, energized and receptive LGBT people: over 800 people will attend the Festival and 1,000 more will visit Fresh Meat in the Gallery, both at ODC Theater.

SOUNDS GREAT! HOW DO I SIGN UP?

To make your donation:

1. Write your check out to "Queer Cultural Center" (our fiscal sponsor)

2. Write “Donation for Fresh Meat Productions” on the check so your money is forwarded to us. Please ensure your check lists your full name and mailing address so we can send you a tax receipt.

3. Mail to:

Queer Cultural Center
Attn: Fresh Meat Productions
934 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA
94103

If you are interested in becoming a Community Partner or Community Sponsor, please contact freshmeatproductions@hotmail.com.

Thank you for your commitment to transgender and queer art and culture – see you June 15-17 at ODC Theater for Fresh Meat 2006!

www.freshmeatproductions.org

Poetry Night

2006-05-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

Lesbians, Trannies, Jews and Queers!
A night you can't miss—six women who are shaping the Spoken Word!

Wednesday, May 17 7:30-10:00

Ellyn Maybe
Ami Mattison
Journey Light
Darrah de jour
Trainwreck
Ryka Aoki de la Cruz

Tribal Cafe
1651 W. Temple St., #A
Los Angeles, CA., 90026-5026
(Echo Park)
Phone/ 213.483.4458

The incomparable ELLYN MAYBE, back from Europe, one of Henry Rollins'
favorite poets, and part of The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry.
Writer's Digest named her one of ten poets to watch in the new
millennium. From Detroit, AMI MATTISON, professor, Atlanta Slam
Champion, lecturer, dyke, queer, and person of color, serves "verbal
cans of whup-ass with an infusion of activism and slam-stylin' and
shreds oppression with wound-opening clarity and love" JOURNEY LIGHT,
the Meshell Ndegeocello of spoken word, voted Outstanding Performer at
the 2005 Columbus National Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival. DARRAH
DE JOUR, actress, poet, femme, member of Boston's premier street
theater troupe, Dagger, and is soon to feature in the 'Saturday Night
Cabaret' at Femme2006 Conversations and Explorations, in San
Francisco. From North Hampton, veteran actor and poet TRAINWRECK, a
pioneering voice in the trans-butch scene, her work challenges the
very nature of womanhood, and was honored at the last Camp Trans. This
event is produced by RYKA AOKI DE LA CRUZ who has recently appeared at
the National Queer Arts Festival, Atlanta Pride, UCLA's OutCRY, and
Santa Cruz Pride and was the inaugural performer for San Francisco
Pride's first ever Transgender Stage (2005).

Deviant Bodies - Call for Artwork

2006-04-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

Deviant Bodies 2.0
Call for Work
September 15 – December 17, 2006
Due to the tremendous success of our Summer 2004 exhibition Deviant Bodies (a 7-person exhibit that explored the margins of contemporary gay male culture and received the Best Art Exhibit of the Year Award from ArtVoice). CEPA Gallery is in the process of organizing a companion exhibition that explores the same themes through the multiple lenses of Transgender and Gender Queer perspectives. Throughout the course of its 30-year history, CEPA Gallery has proudly presented the work of LGBT artists in its large, theme-based exhibitions, but Deviant Bodies was our first exhibit specifically focused on the gay community.
In fact, it was the first significant exhibition of queer visual art in Western New York. In this era of the “positive” gay white male assimilating into contemporary mainstream culture, Deviant Bodies presented an alternative image, one that celebrated diversity and individuality and provided a variety of perspectives that are not typically represented in cultural spaces or gay media. With Deviant Bodies 2 we are interested in reviewing work that, within the Transgendered and Queer Gender perspectives, explores the margins of gender and representation by speaking to issues and from experiences that are rarely represented. We are interested in artists working in photo-related and real-time media based artwork, installation projects that include video, photo and sound, and projects for CEPA’s Public Art Window.
If you would like to have your work considered for Deviant Bodies 2 please contact lawrence@cepagallery.com or call 856-2717. Also, if you know of artists that we should be looking at please forward this call to them. You may also send proposals and work samples (slides, CDs, DVDs and video accepted). Please send your materials ASAP:
CEPA Gallery
617 Main St., suite 201
Buffalo, NY 14203 To review Deviant Bodies (2004) exhibition go to
Attn: Deviant Bodies 2 http://www.cepagallery.com/cepa/exhibits/exhibits04/deviant/index.html

Trans March in San Francisco

2006-04-23T15:54:00.000-07:00

The Third Annual Trans March will take place Friday June 23rd in
Dolores Park, San Francisco. Live bands, transgender and
gender-variant activists, political speakers, drag kings, and
musicians will perform from 3 pm till 7 pm, and the March itself will
begin at 7 pm. The Trans March is a grassroots, community-building
political event, welcoming transgender, genderqueer, intersex, and all
genders of people, as well as allies. It is a demonstration of trans
visibility, celebrating the growth of a gender movement. The purpose
of this event is to:
1. Demonstrate that the violence and discrimination directed against
the transgender community will not be tolerated.
2. Celebrate the struggles of the trans community for respect,
acceptance, and civil rights.
3. Build a supportive, unified trans community bringing together
diverse genders, ages, ethnic backgrounds along with our allies.

Femina Potens is a nationally recognized art gallery and performance
space dedicated to the advancement of women and trans-folk through
art. Sponsored by the Queer Cultural Center, with support from the
San Francisco Arts Commission and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,
Femina Potens is one of the leading queer organizations in San
Francisco. Femina Potens has been featured on the Australian
television show, Out and About, Q-Television, the documentary
TranArchy, Japan's Foil Magazine, Bitch Magazine, and the San
Francisco Guardian, which called Femina Potens a crucial bit of justice.
http://www.feminapotens.com

Seeking Trans Black Interview Subjects for Film

2006-04-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hello

My name is Kortney Ryan Ziegler. I am a doctoral student at
Northwestern University and an independent filmmaker who is currently
working on my next project titled "STILL BLACK"

I am sending this message out in the hopes of finding potential black
trans interview subjects in the following metro areas: Philadelphia,
Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.

If you know of anyone that would be interested in offering their story
to this premiere doc, please pass along this email to them. I can be
contacted at: stillblackfilm@gmail.com

Brief info about the film: Drawing upon the African American tradition
of storytelling, this project will document the oral narratives of
three transgendered (those who have undergone some form of gender
reassignment surgery or hormone therapy) African Americans who tell
their story of the process in which they came to terms with their
gender identity. Through the testimonies of black FTM's and MTF's,
this film will examine the intersections of race, class and gender as
they apply to black queers who have transitioned, or, are
transitioning. In particular, the project seeks to address the
implications of and the complexities of a queer sexual identity within
the majority of the black community and our society at large, which
deems compulsory biological heterosexual activities as the
norm, while ignoring transgendered issues. Subsequently, this film
will address the explicit and implicit homophobia that is rampant in
the black community and expose the ways in which transgendered
individuals have learned to overcome these barriers and form
communities amongst other African Americans during/after their
transitioning process.

Thank You in Advance
-Kortney Ryan Ziegler

from New York

2006-04-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

Please join us for the opening reception of:
No More Drama: The Saga Continues
on Friday, April 21, from 6-8pm
@ The Center for Book Arts
28 West 27th Street
New York, NY 10001

This provocative exhibition presents works by emerging artists responding to melodrama and the popular culture media format of Latin American Telenovelas (soap operas) and their printed comic-book versions called fotonovelas.

This exhibition includes works by Matias Aguilar, Emmy Catedral, Jaime Cortez, Alex Donis, Ray Felix & Marcus Jones, Chitra Ganesh, Edwin González Ojeda, Derek Jackson, Claudia Joskowicz, Swati Khurana, Kalup Linzy, Iván Monforte, Domingo Nuño, Lai-Chung Poon, Carlo Quispe-Salgado, Wanda Raimundi-Ortíz, Jacqueline Salloum, Ethan Shoshan, Luis Sierra & Gary Camp, Boris Torres, and Megan Whitmarsh & Caroline Rankin.

Please see attached invitation for details. We hope to see you next Friday.

The Center for Book Arts
28 West 27th Street
New York, NY 10001

phone (212) 481-0295
fax (212) 481-9853

visit on the web at
http://www.centerforbookarts.org
or email
info@centerforbookarts.org

"Engendered Species / Albuquerque"

2006-04-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

Meet Jean Peter Scott

2006-03-26T21:52:00.000-08:00

EnGendered Species, an inspiring Art History Class I participated in at California State University, Long Beach found me reflecting on my brilliant and talented mother who impersonated the great male actors of her time and whose close friends were gay men.

Jean Peter Scott, my amazing mother, was born November 5, 1905 in Alameda, California. Her father, Walter Kendall Scott, a man of many interests, was a medical doctor, a dentist, a playwright, an actor, and world traveler. Her mother, Jennie Gourley, daughter of Santa Barbara’s Harbor Master, had been a Los Angeles schoolteacher in the 1890’s. My mother came from a long line of bright and interesting people.

I saw my mother as a colorful, eccentric genius. She recited poetry, introduced me to authors D. H. Lawrence, Noel Coward, and Oscar Wilde, and saw me more clearly than I saw myself. She never gave me advice or told me what to do, but would instead make a profoundly funny comment such as “don’t dance in the sun with butter on your head.”

Because my mother could bark like a big dog, my sons, my friends, and I always called her “Rover.” When I wandered off in stores, she’d bark and feeling embarrassed, I hurried back to her. Rover had the rare gift of being both spontaneous and un-self-conscious in delightfully funny ways!

She was an unusual woman in her era. After graduating in theatre arts from the University of California, Berkeley, she went to Columbia University in New York, where in one year she earned a master’s degree in journalism. Returning to Berkeley,
she took a radio job writing a daily soap opera about the humorous adventures
of cleaning lady Lena Genster. And five mornings a week America’s housewives
listened to her as Martha Mead giving recipes and advise for homemakers. Although she was not in the least bit domestic, she was completely convincing as the Martha Stewart of her day. She was an actress with a gift for transforming herself into whoever she wished to be, including her role as my mother!

Traveling through Europe she collected authentic costumes for her club act, Two Blue Jeans, in which she adroitly impersonated many male entertainers, including Chinese opera star, Mei Ling Feng, actor/singers Charles Boyer and Maurice Chevalier, as well as Scotsman Sir Harry Lauder. During World War II, she operated the Westwood Village Playhouse, drawing portraits of the actors to hang in the lobby, directing plays, writing publicity, and performing character rolls.

When she fell ill, I took care of her. The love and admiration I held for her never diminished. She joined her theatre idols in 1982 at the age of 76. She was a mother like no other. She taught me to appreciate the wonder and magic of an unconventional life.

by Penelope Scott-Doherty

The Show is about to go on.... Event Listing

2006-03-24T18:13:00.000-08:00

ENGENDERED SPECIES Exhibition: Call for Entries

2005-12-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

In the current political climate, gender is clearly a dangerous and endangered species; just ask Governor Schwarzenegger who felt compelled to veto the single-sex marriage bill in the state of California. But if gender is something we “do” rather than simply are, then can we also “undo” it? What would a post-gender world be like?

We are calling for art that examines new ways of modeling gender complexity. We are less interested in gender as a “theme” than in gender as a critical discourse in crisis. Artwork that duels with the traditional dualisms of sex and gender by inviting a critical questioning of gender classifying systems is especially welcome, as are works that “do” or “undo” either the gendered body or gender as performance.

If your work maps new gender geographies (dangerous border crossers) or technologies (cyborgs) or simply makes a new fashion statement (what does cross-dressing mean today?), then consider your own position within the complex system we are labeling “Engendered Species.”

The exhibition was conceived and curated by students in two CSU Long Beach courses: an art history seminar class taught by Dr. Karen Kleinfelder in fall 2005, and a Museum Studies practice course to be taught by Victoria Bryan in the spring of 2006. The exhibit will be held in the Gatov gallery at CSU Long Beach from April 2nd to April 6th of 2006; then the show will travel to The Advocate Gallery, Hollywood, for five weeks from April 7th to May 13th.

All open call entries must be received by February 1st, 2006

For more information contact:
Dr. Karen Kleinfelder [dr.karenk@verizon.net; 562.694-3141]
or Victoria Bryan [victoriakb@aol.com]