HONORING STONEWALL ARTISTS ANNOUNCED

Free community artists reception to take place Sunday, June 30, from 1-3

FARGO, N.D. (June 27, 2019) – The Honoring Stonewall Art Exhibition is proud to announce the artists now on display at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Chapel in Fargo. The festival includes the work of ten 2D, 3D, and live performance artists from North Dakota and Minnesota. Each artist explores LGBTQ themes and the impact of the Stonewall Riots on contemporary society and their own lives.

The exhibition opened on June 23, 2019, at St. Mark Lutheran Church Chapel in Fargo. On Sunday, June 30, a free community artists reception will be held at the chapel from 1 to 3 p.m. Artists will be on hand to speak about the motivations and inspirations behind their work, and live readings of written works from the exhibition will take place.

Artists who have work displayed in the exhibition include: James Bergman’s poetry piece, “Our Stonewalls Don’t Fall Down”; Christopher Coen’s 3D Lego Diorama, “Lego My Dignity”; Ruth Denton-Graber’s collage and mixed media work, “Tear down the Wall”; PJ Graber’s “Power to the People”; Joseph Larson’s collage and mixed media work, “All Roads Lead to Stonewall”; Kevin Tengesdal’s video piece, “INCLUSION: Transforming the LGBTQI+ Pride Flag”; Ted Martin’s color drawings “Untitled” one and two; Kandace Creel Falcón’s acrylic painting, “Portrait of a Lesbian Marriage”; Brett Lysne’s works, “The Lower Forty-Eight #23 (Flowers for Orlando)” and “Eight Gifts for 2016”; and Lauren Starling’s, “brick&stiletto”.

An artist reception featuring James Bergman’s reading of “Our Stonewalls Don’t Fall Down” and reflections from Kandace Creel Falcón, Lauren Starling, Kevin Tengesdal and more. Emily Vieweg, 2019 Award Winner for Best Performance Work for the North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival, will also perform her award-winning work “Vision” as part of the reception.

The reception will take place at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Chapel from 1 – 3 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to vote to select a “People’s Choice” award, awarding a talented artist a $100 cash prize. The art exhibition will be on display at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Chapel Sunday, June 23 through Sunday, July 28. Both the exhibition and the reception are free and open to the public.

The reception concludes a week of remembrance and reflection in the Fargo-Moorhead community on the Stonewall Riots. The Stonewall Riots were a series of spontaneous demonstrations by members of the LGBTQ community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. They are widely considered to constitute the most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States.

The Honoring Stonewall Art Exhibition is hosted by St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and the North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival. The North Dakot Human Rights Coalition is supporting the week-long reflection on human rights and social justice.

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