Queer|Art Presents its 2023 Pride Celebration

Queer|Art, NYC's hub for connecting and empowering generations of LGBTQ+ artists, has announced the 2023 edition of Queer|Art|Pride-the 7th annual summer festival celebrating work by the organization's vibrant community of more than 200 LGBTQ+ artists. This year, the organization partners with Body Hack, a collectively run party and mutual aid project that serves both as a community space and decentralized fundraising platform for trans and nonbinary BIPOC groups.

Kicking off New York City's Pride weekend from 3-11 PM on Friday, June 23rd, Queer|Art and Body Hack will transform Nowadays' 16,000-square-foot space located in Ridgewood along the Brooklyn/Queens border into an extravaganza of both indoor/outdoor festivities. This two-part public event will feature a daytime queer vendor fair (3-8PM) and an evening happy hour and dance party (8PM-6AM). The event will fundraise for three BIPOC trans-led organizations fighting to protect trans people in the states most impacted by anti-trans violence and new legislation: InTRANSitive (Little Rock, AK), The McKenzie Project (Miami, FL) and TKO Society (Selma, AL).

In the afternoon, the sprawling backyard will feature a queer vendor fair featuring work by local artisans and small queer and trans owned brands, where guests can browse clothing, zines, original artworks, on-site tattoo services, jewelry, tarot/astrology readings, and more from 3-8 PM. Indoor programming will include queer speed dating, where participants rotate through three minute dates and find some special matches! Black queer feminist scholar Alexis De Veaux will launch her new book, JesusDevil: The Parables, an anti-fiction work forthcoming within adrienne maree brown's Emergent Strategy Series this summer. The book launch will entail a live reading, a short discussion, and a special book signing.

Queer|Art also spotlights a collaboration with Clit Club-the queer nightclub and performance venue founded in 1990 and Julie Tolentino and Jaguar Mary that for twelve years championed sex-positivity and lesbian, gay, and trans belonging, blending nightlife with sex, art, and activism in a manner far ahead of its time. In addition, inaugural Illuminations Grant Winner Keioui Keijaun Thomas will deliver a live performance, and sensational DJ sets will be led by Critical Hit, Battyjack, Zolita, and more.

To close out the night, the event will transition into Body Hack's hallmark happy hour and a late night party guaranteed to burn until daybreak. Organized through a mindset of abundance over scarcity, Body Hack seeks to model a world where trans communities can thrive interdependently. Hosted monthly at Nowadays, Body Hack creates dedicated spaces for trans people to gather, celebrate, and support one another. Each party doubles as a fundraiser for a trans-related initiative, raising over $300k since its formation in 2018.

Save the date here.
Donate to support our beneficiaries across the South here.
More event details, performers, and DJs to be announced soon at queer-art.org/pride.