The Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design is presenting a semester-long celebration featuring queer artists and artmaking around the theme of “Gender Euphoria.”
These performances, exhibitions, conversations and provocations explore how to make art and find queer joy in a state of emergency.
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The programming is spearheaded by Stamps professor Holly Hughes, professor of art and design in the Stamps School, professor of theatre and drama in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and professor of women’s studies in LSA.
It is being presented in partnership with SMTD, the Center for World Performance Studies, the Institute for the Humanities, the Stamps Gallery, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series, and the State Theatre, and aims to explore and celebrate gender, identity and sexuality through contemporary art and design.
The series is built around a semester-long course taught by Hughes, featuring three events that bring local and internationally acclaimed artists to the Ann Arbor community.
“This course and series challenge us to reimagine how we express and celebrate our identities,” Hughes said. “We’re exploring how bodies labeled ‘different’ are not just sites of trauma, but of creativity, desire and celebration.”
Highlights include:
- The Butch Closet: Artist Phranc’s installation, hosted by the Institute for the Humanities gallery, is a retrospective exhibition spanning more than 40 years of her life as a queer artist and Cardboard Cobbler. It runs through Oct. 22.
- Killjoy Kastle: A performative artist talk by Detroit-based and Canadian artists Allyson Mitchell and Deidre Logue, featuring Lola Von Miramar (Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, professor of American Culture, of romance languages and literatures, and of women’s and gender studies in LSA); and other community members and performers. Nov. 2.
- Nayland Blake’s Gender “Discard”: A Nov. 21 participatory artist talk by the renowned artist Nayland Blake, exploring gender identity through creative expression.
The “Gender Euphoria” series is not just for students enrolled in the course. It offers numerous opportunities for the broader U-M and Ann Arbor communities to engage, including:
- Long Table Discussions — Open panels where audience members can join the conversation with artists and scholars.
- Book Launch Party — Celebrates the publication of“Jill Johnston in Motion: Dance, Writing, and Lesbian Life”by Clare Croft and “My Butch Career” by Esther Newton.
- Public Workshop — “Freaky Fibers and Crochet Spider Webs,” presented by Leah Crosby, U-M Arts Initiative Creative Careers Resident.
For the 21 undergraduate students enrolled in Hughes’ class, this series offers unprecedented access to internationally recognized artists.
“Our students are getting devoted time with these visiting artists, providing invaluable insights into the world of professional art and activism,” Hughes said.
The series also demonstrates the power of collaboration across the university. Working in partnership with LSA and the Penny Stamps Speaker Series, “Gender Euphoria” showcases how interdisciplinary approaches can create rich, meaningful engagements with art and artmaking.
This programming underscores U-M’s commitment to fostering innovative, socially engaged art.
“I’m very appreciative and none of this would have been possible without the Arts Initiative,” Hughes said, highlighting the crucial role of institutional support in bringing cutting-edge art and ideas to campus.
