The University of Arizona Museum of Art marks the 10th anniversary of its groundbreaking LGBTQ+-centered art exhibit, Mapping Q .
Launched in 2014 by Chelsea Farrar, now the Curator of Community Engagement at the museum, the program began as a workshop series for LGBTQ+ youth, ages 13-24.
It has since grown into a significant cultural fixture in the Tucson community.
Mapping Q was originally conceived as a response to the lack of LGBTQ+ representation in traditional art spaces.
Farrar, reflecting on the program’s origins, recalled the original “mapping” element of the program, where students would wander art galleries trying to find LGBTQ+ representation.
“It started from a research question when I was a graduate student here at the U of A. What was it like to walk through an art museum and have an identity that maybe wasn’t represented in the museum, in the art, on the labels?” she said.
The exhibit, Still Queer After All These Years , showcases 35 artworks by 19 artists, telling the stories of LGBTQ+ youth over the past decade.