"Queering Space" for Creators

Story by Addie Hedges

Photos by Dylan Benedict

A recent art initiative produced by Athens’ very own has goals of hosting inclusive art spaces for queer members of Ohio University and the community.

Cricket Jones works on creating a spoon ring in her studio in Athens, Ohio, on Thursday, Jan. 20th, 2022.

Photo by Dylan Benedict

Standing in a parking lot surrounded by more people than she had been in months, Cricket Jones was overcome by a sense of healing. She watched as her colleagues, local artists and art enthusiasts distanced themselves from each other physically, but not emotionally. They were sharing what they had created in isolation, and now that they were able to gather again, they sought to reconnect through each other’s acts of creativity.

During the pandemic, Jones, a local artist known in Athens for her spoon rings, says she noticed for the first time how much people needed art; whether it was to create it and showcase it, or just the need to experience it. Following her spontaneous parking lot art show, she was inspired to become an “art curator” for the community.

“I am an LGBT person, so I know that LGBT people are marginalized in our society, and I felt that it might be a great, revolutionary thing to have an LGBT art show,” Jones says.

Without a set plan, Jones reached out to Micah McCarey, Ohio University’s LGBT Center director and an Athens City Council member, as she was selling her rings on Court Street. McCarey was the perfect person to collaborate with, according to Jones.

Donkey Coffee art curator David Lawrence was looking for an art exhibit around the same time Jones and McCarey began collaborating.

According to Lawrence, Chris and Angie Pyle, the owners of Donkey Coffee, are committed to supporting local people and their perspectives on social justice and equality. Setting aside space in Donkey for local artistry is just one of the ways the business supports the community.

“They love exhibits that demonstrate a community vibe, a community feel, that incorporates all members of the community and celebrates them for who they are,” Lawrence says. “I knew something was going to happen and … I felt that we were going to have something really, really special going forward.”

Envisioning a safe space for artists in the LGBT community, Jones, McCarey and Lawrence decided to showcase LGBT artists’ work in local Athens establishments. Jones, already the curator of Donkey Coffee’s Queer Coincidence Art Experience, wanted to expand the reach of that art exhibit to other uptown businesses, and thus the Uptown Art Hop was created.

Cricket Jones looks at her collection of tools and creations in her studio in Athens, Ohio, on Thursday, Jan. 20th, 2022.

Photo by Dylan Benedict

All the Uptown Art Hop needed was participants, and McCarey’s connection to OU was instrumental in finding LGBT student artists.

“I was able to help spread the word through our LGBT Center (and I) immediately identified some students, even some LGBT Center staff members, who are talented artists who were willing to contribute some pieces from pottery to digital prints,” McCarey says.

“I was inspired to contribute one of my own pieces that celebrates powerful women, many of them women of color, and I love the idea of queering spaces.” -Micah McCarey

Not only does the Uptown Art Hop correspond with the diversity and inclusion goals of the university, but also the goals of the city of Athens. According to the City of Athens 2040 Comprehensive plan, highlighting the “artistic and creative spirit of (the Athens) community” is a guiding principle in courses of action local government will pursue.

The crossover of the university, city of Athens and local establishments helps to cultivate areas of understanding and acceptance for people of various backgrounds within the community. The goal of the Uptown Art Hop is to formalize these areas and display the art of talented LGBT community members.

Donkey Coffee, a popular spot for OU students and Athens community members alike, is the perfect spot for LGBT artists to gain exposure, according to Lawrence.

“It's one of the most prevalent areas in the community in which you have people from the city of Athens and the students just colliding,” Lawrence says.

“If you just happen to walk into Donkey, you'll see, you know, people 60 to 70 [years old] talking with first and second-year students all the time. It's just a very warm and inviting space. And so again, when you can queer a space … and create some cognitive dissonance for folks who are coming from places or origins in which they're not exposed to a lot of different ways of being, it's very disarming, the place is disarming. I think it can really inspire a change in perspectives, paradigm shifts and an opening up of people's hearts to different ways.”

As of right now, Donkey Coffee, The Union and Casa Nueva all showcase art as part of the Uptown Art Hop. The first exhibit took place on Sunday, Nov. 14 from 4-6 p.m. Moving forward, new art will be exhibited every six weeks in Donkey, The Union and Casa Nueva.

“The more spaces we have for this sort of thing, the better; it will create more of a culture and it'll be tightly woven in there,” Lawrence says. “So, you get your coffee, and you walk around, you do whatever and it'll be really neat.”

When McCarey presented the opportunity of the Uptown Art Hop to members of OU’s LGBT Center, he found that many students were completely on board with the idea and wanted to know what they could do to be a part of it.

Instead of having to encourage students to put themselves and their art out into the community, McCarey was asked questions like, “How many pieces can I submit?”, “Can I bring some examples in tomorrow?” and “What is considered art? Do short stories count?” Students were beyond ready to think outside of the box to participate in the exhibition, according to McCarey.

Ser Spinelli, a student in his sixth year at OU studying media arts and studies, as well as fine arts, says the Uptown Art Hop allows LGBT artists to display art in a space they are comfortable in. He hopes the Uptown Art Hop will encourage more queer people to make art.

“I think it'll inspire a lot of queer people to get into art more often and be able to connect with other queer artists. There's already a lot of tight-knit communities … and groups, but I think with these art shows specifically, it'll create a more welcoming atmosphere for people to just make art and to connect with other queer people and use art as a form of self-expression.” - Ser Spinelli

The exposure of local LGBT artists’ work not only allows the participating artists to showcase their talents, but also make money from selling their pieces. According to Lawrence, two artists sold art during the November Uptown Art Hop display at Donkey alone.

“One of the issues you have is [that] a lot of people will stop by venues, see art on the wall and not really go there with the mindset of taking home a local artist’s piece of expression,” Lawrence says. “With the [Uptown] Art Hop it kind of makes it intentional that that's what you're doing; you're kind of shopping, it's almost like an art hop and shop.”

The cultivation of the Uptown Art Hop has further established Athens as a town with an “art scene.” Art in Athens is not limited to university students or adults in the community, but also the youth.

A local after-school arts program, PRISM, is LGBTQ oriented and works to support local youth and their self-expression. The program takes place at ARTS/West and is sponsored by the OU LGBT Center. PRISM was the only LGBTQ oriented arts group in Athens that Jones was aware of before the Uptown Art Hop, so she hopes to invite middle and high school students who are a part of PRISM to submit pieces to the exhibition.

PRISM’s Facebook profile picture.

“People look to Columbus as an art scene where they have gallery hop in the Short North and we have such amazing things going on here too, that [are] sustainable because we want this to be something that can be perpetuated,” McCarey says.

The addition of thousands of new students each year should sustain the participants in the Uptown Art Hop, and as it continues to grow so will the support of LGBT artists in Athens. Jones, McCarey and Lawrence are hopeful the Uptown Art Hop will lead to other opportunities for LGBT people to express themselves, whether it be in OU’s LGBT Center, the university as a whole or the Athens community.

“I really think we have a critical mass that we would always be able to have submissions coming through. With [Jones’] organizational skills, combined with the many people we could potentially partner with when our LGBT center eventually relocates to a larger space, I imagine that space having a designated art area and/or a gallery. I know it would be ideal to have such a gallery be more public-facing and potentially more easily accessible by community members, but … if we were doing that kind of stuff in the LGBT Center it would bring more people into the center. I'm really excited to see where all this goes.”

Lawrence agrees with McCarey and says the cyclical nature of OU students leaving, returning to and starting college life in Athens will create a never-ending supply of talented artists. He is excited to watch the Uptown Art Hop grow and thrive.

Jones hopes her efforts in starting the Uptown Art Hop will aid in creating support for providing gallery space for LGBT artists in OU campus buildings.

“Another thing I'd love to see is an LGBT gallery. I feel that will firm up the LGBT [people] and artists saying ‘20% of the population really could fit in there, but we have 0% of the representation or close to it here,’” Jones says. “I believe a gallery space would not only be great meeting and workshop space, but we’d include [the Athens] community, OU, OU staff and OU alums. They all bring something new and fantastic to the table.”