This exhibition of twenty artists and twenty artworks have been brought out from the permanent collection of the William Way LGBT Community Center. They have been stored in the Center’s art archives and many have not been on public display for several years. They represent twenty years of active acquisition of art from LGBTQI artists who have exhibited their work in the Center’s art gallery, or are works that have been given as gifts to the Center.

The diversity of the works is evident from the media used (pencil, pastel, watercolor, acrylic, oil, paper and canvas), from the mediums (drawing, painting, printing, photography and collage) and from the artist’s focus of interest (landscape, figure, portrait and abstraction).

These art works give expression to the declarative identity of each individual portrait, as well as the power of relationships and community. They directly confront the viewer with an unashamed celebration of personal and communal joi de vivre. From overcoming alienation and social oppression, to experiencing pride filled solitude, from the exuberance of public art displays to the intimacy of private passion these art works openly display “we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it.”