Our June 2005 newsletter features interviews with three lesbian artists, but there are a lot more doing wonderful work. You can find them on our free online artist directory, the WomenArts Network, or on the web. We have listed some WomenArts Network artists and online resources below.
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Finding LGBT Artists On the WomenArts Network
It is easy to do searches by keyword on the WomenArts Network. Just type a word like “lesbian”, “queer” or “transgender” into the WomenArts Network Search Box at the bottom of our home page or anywhere else on our site, and click the Go button. You will see a list of thumbnail profiles for everyone who has listed your keyword in their profile. Click on any artist’s name or picture to see her full profile. You can write to any artist on the WomenArts Network by clicking on the email link under her name on her profile page. You can also use the Advanced Search page to do searches by theme, art form, geographic region and more.
Here are a few of the artists you will find. More women join the WomenArts Network every day, so the best way to made sure you get all of the current listings is to do an online search.
Margie Adam, Berkeley, CA
Best known as a pioneer lesbian singer-songwriter of elegant love songs and inspiring songs of conscience, as well as an excellent composer-instrumentalist. Margie has also been Associate producer on two films documenting lesbian feminist history, Radical Harmonies: A History of Women’s Music (WomanVision, 2002) and No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon (WomanVision, 2003).
http://network.womenarts.org/network/profile_974.html
Rahne Alexander, Baltimore, MD
Musician, comedian, author. Her debut CD, Blond on a Bum Trip, is just out.
http://network.womenarts.org/network/profile_1328.html
S. Bear Bergman, Northampton, MA
Theatre artist whose Ex Post Papa speaks to the way queer and trans folk create families in order to make safe space for themselves in the world.
http://network.womenarts.org/network/profile_915.html
Hannah Blank, Baltimore, MD
Writer, editor, public speaker whose books include Shameless: Women’s Intimate Erotica and Zaftig: Well Rounded Erotica.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_919.html
Kiebpoli M. Calnek, New York, NY
An actor, dancer, director and arts educator who created Macbeth Sese Seko, an open-air grand scale political adaptation of the life of Zaire’s dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_1127.html
Kate Clinton, New York, NY
A faith-based, tax-paying, America-loving political humorist and family entertainer, who believes that humor gets us through peacetime, wartime and scoundrel time. In addition to touring, Kate has released seven comedy CD’s and two books of essays.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_1456.html
Carolyn Gage, Portland, ME
Lesbian-feminist playwright, performer, director, and activist. The author of four books on lesbian theatre and forty-seven plays, musicals, and one-woman shows, she is best known for her one-woman show about a lesbian Joan of Arc.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_67.html
Gennifer M. Hirano/asianprincess, San Francisco, CA
Multi-disciplinary Asian American queer sex worker sexual assault survivor artist, activist, educator. Spamela Anderson Leilani Mai Tai Lee, an aloha industry tour guide through the Hawaiian islands of paradise, is an ironic and entertaining performance art piece about the illegal acquisition of our 50th state.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_98.html
Victoria Libertore, Brooklyn, NY
A performance artist whose work includes hula hooping, lip-synching, burlesque, drag and more than a few surprises.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_524.html
Naima Niambo Lowe, Philadelphia, PA
Playwright and multidisciplinary artist whose work includes Devices, a short play, solo performance and audio/visual installation addressing fatness, sex, desire and commerce.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_285.html
Diedre McCalla, Riverdale, GA
A singer, songwriter and modern-day troubadour who performs an eclectic blend of folk, rock, country, and pop delicately conveying both strength and vulnerability.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_1078.html
Lenelle Moise, Northampton, MA
Spins manifestos for the right-now-revolution, mixing a brew full of womanist Vodou jazz, queer theory hip-hop and improvisational dance.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_280.html
Mandy Mojica, South River, NJ
An artist consumed with a passion for the human body, who uses skin tones and moods to create multi-cultural art that explores relationships between women.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_1292.html
Angela Motter, Atlanta, GA
A self-proclaimed “boy/girl” with a black-leather and muscle stage persona, Motter performs a very out, very sultry and very accomplished blend of rock, jazz, blues, soul and funk.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_1132.html
Janice Perry, Ferrisburgh, VT
An American theatre artist actively performing and teaching in Europe and the U.S. since 1982. Her work is comedy that communicates challenging ideas through costumes, movement, music and lighting. Her charming yet edgy style has been described as “a cross between Doris Day and a high velocity rifle.”
http://network.womenarts.org/network/profile_21.html
Terry Power, Exeter, UK
A theatre artist developing a methodology for women to embody male roles in performance. Her Drag King Richard III is an auto-biographical Drama that appropriates Shakespeare’s text to tell a new story about a FTM transsexual and a lesbian friendship tested by one friend’s transition.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_1380.html
JoSelle Vanderhooft, Louisville, KY
An innovative playwright, poet, and novelist whose verse work blends Elizabethan rhythms with 21st century lyricism. She is editing Secret Fires, a collection of lesbian-themed fairy tales for Torquere Press (May 2006).
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_1271.html
Cris Williamson, Seattle, WA
One of the prolific and pioneering matriarchs in the genre of independent women’s music. Williamson recorded and released “Changer and the Changed” in 1975 on Olivia Records. The album became a symbol of lesbian identity and now stands among the best selling independent albums of all time. She is widely recognized for her extraordinary musicianship and her unfaltering activism in the areas of the environment and human rights.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_995.html
Elizabeth Whitney, Milwaukee, WI
A performance artist whose interests in adolescence, popular culture, and gender identity collide in her new show “Bullet Proof Wristbands,” which draws on the persona of Wonder Woman to explore the ways that queer identity is repressed through pseudo-feminism and capitalist desires for material gain.
http://network.WomenArts.org/network/profile_93.html
Finding LGBT Artists on the Web!
This is by no means a comprehensive list – we have selected some of our favorite sites. Send yours to us at info@WomenArts.org!
African American Lesbian Produced Film, Video, and Multimedia Resource List
Compiled alphabetically by title by Yvonne Welbon. Somewhat out of date, but still invaluable!
www.sistersincinema.com/pages/lesbianfilms.html
glbtq
Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, & Queer Culture. Extensive entries on historical and contemporary queer artists and movements in all artistic disciplines.
Goldenrod Music
Goldenrod was originally a music distributor for Olivia Records. Now you can purchase music by many women artists on their website, and they offer an array of distribution and concert merchandising to independent women musicians.
Ladyslipper Music
Ladyslipper Music Online Catalog & Resource Guide, contains listings for approximately 15,000 (and growing!) women musicians, writers, performers, and composers, including many lesbians. You can read about them, listen to music samples for most of them, and purchase many of them. www.ladyslipper.org
Lesbians in the Visual Arts
A San Francisco-based organization in support of lesbian visual artists working in various media.
Lesbian Photography on the U.S. West Coast, 1972-1997
A wonderful series of web-based essays and catalogues by Tee A. Corinne, sponsored by Women Artists of the American West.
www.cla.purdue.edu/waaw/Corinne/index.html
Lodestar Quarterly
An online journal of gay, lesbian, and queer literature.
Olivia
Olivia Records was founded in 1975 as the first national all-women’s record company. They were pioneers in recording and distributing lesbian music by artists such as Cris Williamson, Teresa Trull, and Diedre McCalla. The company now focuses on providing high quality, safe vacations for lesbian travelers that feature performances by lesbian musicians and comedians.
www.olivia.com
Queer Artists
Alphabetical list of links to artists’ websites, on the site of the Queer Cultural Center.
www.queerculturalcenter.org/Pages/MainMenu/LinksArt.htm
Queer Cultural Center
A multidisciplinary arts presenting organization in San Francisco that conducts artistic and interpretive programs exploring queer identity issues.
San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Artists Alliance
An organization fostering growth among gay and lesbian visual artists and creating exhibition opportunities for their work. With an extensive on-line gallery.
This Way Out
Award-winning weekly GLBT radio program, currently airing on over 150 local commmunity radio stations around the world.
www.qrd.org/QRD/www/media/radio/thiswayout
Women Make Movies
Search the catalogue under “Lesbian” for dozens of films by lesbian filmmakers, many on the theme of sexuality and identity.