On April 25, CAMBA’s Brooklyn YAS (Youth Against Substance Misuse) Coalition, held its 4th Annual LGBTQIA+ Art Contest and Showcase at the Brooklyn Community Pride Center. This year’s theme was “I Am Because We Are: Queer Advocacy, Empowerment, and Autonomy Through Art.”
Twelve LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults submitted pieces and artist statements responding to the prompt, “What does queer advocacy, empowerment, and autonomy look like to you?” All of the work was inspiring and spoke to our current political climate and its impact on LGBTQIA+ communities. Brooklyn YAS partnered with Open Source Gallery, who is featuring the art in their online gallery and who provided us with our artist mentor Ed Woodham. In his own words, Ed Woodham is an “independent elder Southern queer conceptual social-absurdist artist, curator, producer, and educator.” Ed will be providing an arts mentorship to all the participating artists. Brooklyn YAS also awarded cash prizes to the top three prize winners, in addition to our “Rising Star” and Honorable Mentions.
Youth who have participated in previous years shared some thoughts about how the experience has impacted them:
“I had an amazing time at the space! I got to meet several incredible artists, and bond with people who shared similar experiences to my own.”
“It was an amazing experience that helped me grow so much as an artist and an activist.”
“Participating as a contestant was a very heartwarming experience. I was not aware of BrooklynYAS before the competition, so engaging with both the audience and fellow competitors allowed me to network and learn more about Brooklyn’s queer community.”
If you would like to view the artwork for this year’s showcase, please click here to view the Open Source Gallery.