What’s Your Elephant™ LGBTQ+ Series
What’s Your Elephant and Niki Lopez Presents:
A Series of art-making workshops + community talk + in-person and virtual Art exhibitions
What’s Your Elephant™ is a movement that uses the arts to create safe spaces to address the unspoken.
What’s Your Elephant™ (WYE) is a combination of art exhibits, interactive installations, discussions, and workshops that are designed to provoke awareness by unveiling unaddressed topics. Themes often include but are not limited to: gender, sexuality, discrimination, and abuse. WYE shows us how art can heal and be a tool to process complex conversations, helping us to unpack the things that we, and the world around us, are challenged by. WYE also intentionally aims to destigmatize mental health topics and counseling.
WYE collaborates with artists of all types, at-risk groups, non-profits, corporate organizations, grassroots entities, and the general public to uplift the value of the creative arts in assisting us with self-healing, which only strengthens our interpersonal and community ties.
The What’s Your Elephant™ series has typically explored many ‘elephants,’ though sometimes there is an annual focus. This year, our series will highlight LGBTQ+ communities. We will be collaborating with grassroots community partners such as NAMI Broward County, World AIDS Museum and Educational Center, Ujima Men’s Collective, South Florida Afro Pride Federation, Black Lesbian Archives, The National Gardenia Society and Transpire Trainings & Consulting, and inviting our communities to make art, get vulnerable, and connect.
WYE 2021/2022 will offer a hybrid of both in-person and virtual events.
What’s Your Elephant is a unique opportunity for our community to explore social issues and personal experiences through art which is unlikely to be exhibited in more commonly accessible or traditional art exhibits. N. C. – WYE Exhibition attendee, 2017
This program was made possible by a grant from Our Fund Foundation, an LGBTQ Community Foundation.
Featured community partners:
World AIDS MUSEUM and Educational Center
South Florida Afro Pride Federation
Transpire Trainings & Consulting
Center for Sustainable Healthy Equitable Communities
WYE: LGBTQ+ Series, July 2021 – March 2022
Tentative Dates (Subject to change, please check back)
What’s Your Elephant: “Taste the Rainbow”
Addressing elephants within LGBTQ+ communities
WYE Workshop + Presenter – Saturday, August 7 (Virtual) 1-3 PM
WYE Workshop + Presenter – Thursday, August 19 (in-person) 6:30-8 PM
In-Person Showcase/Exhibition – Friday, August 20 (1310 Gallery) 6:30-8 PM
Virtual Showcase/exhibition – Saturday, October 9 (virtual) 1-3 PM
CALL FOR ART DEADLINE: Friday, August 13, 2021 – CLICK HERE
What’s Your Elephant: “Girl, GIRL, boi!”
Addressing elephants within lesbian, butch, masculine of center, trans and non-binary communities
WYE Workshop + Presenter – Saturday, September 18 (virtual) 1-3 PM – CLICK HERE to RSVP
WYE Workshop + Presenter – Thursday, September 23 (in-person @ ArtServe) 6-8 PM – CLICK TO RSVP
Virtual Showcase/exhibition Thursday, September 30, 6:30-8 PM CLICK TO RSVP
CALL FOR ART DEADLINE: September 16 , 2021
What’s Your Elephant: “For Coloreds Only”
Addressing LGBTQ+ elephants within BIPOC communities
WYE Workshop + Presenter – Thursday, November 11 (virtual) 6:30-8 PM
WYE Workshop + Presenter – Saturday, November 20 (in-person) 1-3 PM
Virtual Showcase/exhibition Thursday, December 2 (virtual) 6:30-8 PM
CALL FOR ART DEADLINE: November 18, 2021
What’s Your Elephant: “Hey, Black Man!”
Addressing elephants within Black gay, queer, MSM, and same gender loving (SGL) communities
WYE Workshop + Presenter – Thursday, February 3 (virtual) 6:30-8PM
WYE Workshop + Presenter – Saturday, February 19 (in-person) 1-3PM
Virtual Showcase/exhibition Thursday, March 3 (virtual) 6:30-8PM
CALL FOR ART DEADLINE: February 17, 2022
Culminates March 2022 (in-person) – TBA
Saturday, March 12, 1-3 PM: Virtual showcase of art work, live workshop art, and four panelists
Friday, March 25, 6-8 PM: Culminating exhibition, performance art, and open mic
CALL FOR ART DEADLINE: March 4, 2022
If you would like to join the eList for Niki Lopez to get updates on upcoming Aya Arts Programing and other creative happenings: http://eepurl.com/eqUc
The Circle:
The Circle: LIVE with Niki Lopez is a series sharing stories of our creative community, activists & social entrepreneurs. The 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month 8:30 PM EST on: facebook.com/nikilopezcreative or youtube.com/c/Nikilopez19 or linkedin.com/in/nikilopezcreative. Click on some of the interviews below to learn more about the artists:
