ALX Pride was developed in 2018 as a community-focused event to celebrate LGBTQ+-identifying creatives in the Alexandria area and beyond. Although this year’s in-person Pride Late Shift event is canceled due to COVID-19, the Art Center will host a virtual conversation on the same evening in the comfort of your home.
UHAULED is a Queer gallery that highlights and centers the work and experience of Queer and lesbian artists. Created and curated by Cat Baker, and with two installations and counting, UHAULED is [typically] a one night pop up gallery which displays the art of several rotational artists in multiple U-Haul trucks. UHAULED was created in response to the lack of space allotted to those in the queer community who aren’t cis men, coupled with the need and importance to highlight queer artists in a typically hetero heavy space.
Join curator Cat Baker as she moderates a panel featuring three UHAULED artists – Nava Levenson, Koren Grace, and Arielle Eisen – for a conversation centered on the pop up gallery project, the impact LGBTQ+ artists have made in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area, and where each of the panelists believe things will go from here.
Nava Levenson
Nava Levenson is a multidisciplinary artist, organizer, and collaborator based out of Richmond, VA. In the form of installations, gatherings, and collection, her work investigates anthropological concepts such as hospitality, labor consumption, and domestic ecology. Nava has been a resident at Torpedo Factory Art Center (Alexandria, VA) and Elsewhere Museum (Greensboro, NC). Recent exhibitions/happenings include UHAULED at Norfolk Neon Fest and A Jar Opening at Rhizome DC (Washington). Nava is the recipient of an Anything Art Grant from Specto Artspace (Bridgewater, VA) and a CVPA Research Grant at James Madison University where she received her BFA in Sculpture. Currently her work deals in curating, material reuse and gendered labor as it relates to construction and homesteading.
Koren Grace
Virginia is home to innovators, creators, and lovers. So, it’s no surprise that diverse seeds planted by cultivators, ranging from hip-hop reformists (Pharrell, Missy Elliott, Timbaland) to jazz legends (Ella Fitzgerald), would continue to produce organic talent by the masses. Norfolk artist Koren Grace is no exception. Hailing from the 757, the singer/songwriter has been writing and performing music since 2008 with 3 EPs and a single, features, and performances at local festivals such as Shaggfest, Soulflower, and the Chipokke festival. And true to the Virginia spirit, Koren Grace doesn’t narrow her music down to one specific sound—she rather let the music speak for itself. -Written by Jasmine Rodriguez
Arielle Eisen
Arielle Eisen is an interdisciplinary artist originally from Richmond, VA working in sculpture, performance, and writing. They are a recent BFA graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design’s Glass program. Arielle believes that sensations can unite the psyche and the body, or disconnect it; their work aims to unite their psyche and physical form. They hope to be a mirror; to invite others to reflect on themselves.
Cat Baker
Cat Baker is a multimedia artist whose work focuses primarily on Queer Identity, the Exploration of the Form and Self, and incorporates themes from her childhood growing up in the Chesapeake Bay. Cat received a BFA in Photography from Radford University, and has since been featured in several exhibitions in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia and currently resides in Washington DC. She is the curator of UHAULED, a queer, pop up exhibit which features the works of several queer artists, rotating on an installation by installation basis.
