GENDER PERSONAL Closing Event Features Dance Performance by Dani Tirrell Tonight

Join us in the Kirkland Arts Center Gallery tonight, July 12 for a final chance to see Jacqui Beck's exhilarating exhibition, Gender Personal, a multimedia project that uses art, poetry, interviews and photography to explore questions of gender and gender variance.

For this special closing event, local dancer, performer, choreographer and dance educator, Dani Tirrell, will also be performing his newest work, "Pot Roast, Aprons and June Cleaver".

The gallery will open at 11am and close with the event at 9pm on Saturday, July 12. Cupcakes, wine ($2) and non-alcoholic drinks will be served.

Gender Personal will also be a featured exhibit at the international Gender Odyssey Conference in Seattle,August 14-17, 2014, at the Washington State Convention Center.

Through movement, the spoken word and the electric calming voice of Nina Simone "Pot Roast, Aprons and June Cleaver" explores the ups, downs and self-discovery of Trans women of color. What does it mean to not find you beautiful, lovable, complete and alive? This piece starts to unpack those very complex and deep emotions. Pot roast, aprons and June Cleaver is a metaphor for having a "normal" life. This story is the start of celebrating the lives of Trans women of color. Often times their stories are over looked or never told. This work is in the beginning stages to give a voice to those who voices have been shut out of all communities- even the LGBTQI community.

Gender Personal explores and celebrates gender variance through art, poetry, and recorded interviews. Its vision is to increase awareness of the natural experience of gender variance and to foster understanding and acceptance. Gender Personal is an associated program ofShunpike, a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency that fuels innovation in the arts by building productive partnerships, cultivating leadership and providing direct services to arts groups of all kinds. For more information about the Gender Personal project, go to: http://genderpersonal.org/donate/

Jacqui Beck is an artist, art educator, and creativity coach living in Seattle, Washington. Her award-winning, expressive acrylic paintings are collected and exhibited in the United States, Canada, Europe, and New Zealand; they are available through Columbia City Gallery and Up Front Gallery. Her multimedia project, Gender Personal, explores gender and gender variance through art.

Dani Tirrell is a dancer, performer, choreographer and dance educator. Most recently Dani Tirrell's work has been seen at the Seattle International Festival of Dance (Seattle), Black Choreographers Festival (San Francisco), Poetry + Motion (Seattle), On the Boards: 12 Minutes Max (Seattle), Bearing Witness: Quare Arts Project (Seattle), Global Dance Party (Seattle), Young Tanz Sommer (Austria), and Day of Dance: A Community Partnership (Detroit).

As a Detroit native Dani Tirrell has performed with Jazz and Spirit Dance Theater of Detroit, Monroe Ballet Company, Full Circle Dance Company, Detroit Windsor Dance Company and Natural Locz Dance Company that he founded and was the Artistic Director. He also toured national with VEE Corporation's production of Sesame Street Live.

In 2012 he was awarded a grant through The Central District Forum of Arts and Ideas creation Project He has performed his new work Pot Roast, Aprons and June Cleaver at Seattle International Dance Festival and Gay City Arts season one: UpClosePersonal. Dani Tirrell is currently on staff and Northwest Tap Connection and Massive Monkees: The Beacon. He has choreographed for Broadway Bound Children's Theater (Seattle), Brown Box Theater (Seattle) and Repertory Theatre of Hope (Detroit).

Dani Tirrell is the founder and Artistic Director of Dani Tirrell Dance Theater/Color Lines Dance Ensemble. In 2013 he made his acting debut in David and Jonathan: A modern retelling of the Biblical story written by Kathya Alexander and presented by STG (Seattle). He is always working on his craft and developing stories with a strong social context.

Kirkland Arts Center promotes artistic mastery and community participation in the visual arts through innovative educational programming, contemporary exhibitions, and dynamic events while providing stewardship of the historic Peter Kirk Building.

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