Transcript
TAYLOR MASCETTA: The Everson Museum is putting something new on display. Maybe, better put, creating a safe space. Tonight, the Museum is hosting “Queer Night.” Shari Merten, an education coordinator at the museum, designed the event for different generations of LGBTQ+ individuals to talk about personal experiences.
SHARI MERTEN: You can expect to be at a table with some strangers, and go in depth with some questions.
TAYLOR MASCETTA: “Queer Night” also features a tour of a Miami-based, queer artist Pepe Mar’s work. From paintings to fabrics, Mar’s exhibits explores the idea of an alter ego.
SHARI MERTEN: Just within queer culture, you have different personalities… personas you’re presenting to people.
TAYLOR MASCETTA: Many see art as a source of comfort. A safe space, even. That’s what makes the Everson Museum the perfect place to hold these conversations.
SHARI MERTEN: Art is for everyone, right? Using art, it just yields so well. You can view it through so many different lenses. Whether or not that’s talking about black history, queer history, or women’s history. There’s so many lenses to view art through.”
TAYLOR MASCETTA: Anyone at tonight’s event can express their true selves – whether that’s through speaking their truth, or enjoying the art around them. Reporting from Syracuse, I’m Taylor Mascetta, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Many see art as a source of comfort. A safe space, even. That makes the Everson Museum the perfect place to hold certain conversations.
Last Friday, the museum hosted “Queer Night,” its latest venture in providing spaces for Syracuse’s LGBTQ+ community. The event brought older and younger generations of the LGBTQ+ community together to discuss their personal experiences.
When the Everson’s education coordinator, Shari Merten, first moved to Syracuse, she didn’t see many programs for LGBTQ+ individuals. So she took it upon herself to make sure the Everson provided these opportunities.
“I moved to Syracuse about a year ago, and I realized there wasn’t a lot of queer programming happening at the museum,” she says. “So I wanted to change that. We’ve been working with queer artists, teaching classes, and forming safe spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals. Tonight is the culmination of all of that.”
A glimpse of Pepe Mar’s exhibit currently at the Everson.
Another part of Queer Night involved an exhibit currently on display at the Everson. The event offered a look at “Magic Vessel,” which featured the work of Pepe Mar, a Miami-based, queer artist. Mar condenses his emotions into a character known as “Paprika.” Merten explained that Mar’s work studies the idea of an alter-ego – something so many LGBTQ+ individuals know well.
“Just within queer culture, you have different personalities,” she says. “Personas you’re presenting to people.”
One of Mar’s pieces, titled “Border Crosser,” currently displayed at the Everson Museum.
Merten says the mere presence of art helps people open up about personal topics.
“Art is for everyone, right?” she says. “Using art, it just yields so well. You can view it through so many different lenses. Whether or not that’s talking about black history, queer history, or women’s history. There’s so many lenses to view art through.”
While Queer Night wrapped up last week, you can visit Pepe Mar’s exhibit until Dec.31.