A women’s social group, as photographed by the Hooks Brothers (Courtesy of Flow Museum of Art & Culture)
In 1906, the Hooks Brothers, Robert and Henry, started their family-run photography business, which documented the rich and complex history of Black Memphis and Memphians. For 76 years, they captured images of notable profiles like Booker T. Washington, W.C. Handy, and Robert R. Church, but perhaps more importantly, they captured ordinary life and the events that accompany it, from graduations to weddings and birthday parties to neighborhood gatherings. A select number of these photos from the archives of the Flow Museum of Art & Culture will be on display at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library for the month of January.
Of the importance of these photos, Jay Etkin, artist, gallery owner, and founder of the Flow Museum, says, “I know people look for the [photos] that have this wonderful dollar-value — a great portrait of a famous person has a lot of value. A portrait of somebody’s graduation from high school is a bit of history. People don’t attach monetary value to it, but it has community value, cultural value.”
Etkin started collecting photos and photo albums as a hobby in the 1960s. “I owned photo albums of other people’s families, and I kept thinking what an odd thing this is, that somehow all these families lost track of their family history,” he says. “It made me very much aware of the preciousness of tapping into other people’s histories and lives.” In dissecting the albums, he found notes, stamps, and signatures, clues to the stories behind the photos. “I was delving into these lives of people I had no personal connection to.”
But a lack of personal connection does not equate to a lack of relevance, Etkin says, so when he got his hands on the Hooks Brothers archives, he knew he had to share them with the public and engage people in the collective memories. “What value is there of historical photographs if they are hidden away?” he ponders.
“I had heard about the Hooks Brothers a number of years ago,” Etkin says, “and to this day, I ask people from all walks of life, ‘Are you aware of the Hooks brothers archive?’ And a vast number of folks have said to me, I don’t know anything about that. They know about Ernest Withers, but the Hooks Brothers were here longer than anyone else photographically speaking.”
The 1926 Booker T. Washington football team, as photographed by the Hooks Brothers (Courtesy of Flow Museum of Art & Culture)
While at his gallery one day, Etkin showed a visitor a Hooks photo of the 1926 Booker T. Washington football team. The photo stirred up memories of her father who was on the team in the 1940s, he says, and she started tearing up. “The photo was way before [her father’s] time and it still elicited an emotional response,” Etkin says. “That’s a beautiful thing to me. An old picture can have just as much impact if you find ways to connect the general public with its history.” The subjects in the Hooks photos might not be glamorous celebrities or recognizable historical figures, but they shaped the fabric of the city and the families within it. Their significance cannot be diminished, and the Hooks Brothers honored that and preserved their memory in each beautifully captured photograph.
After digitizing the glass negatives, Etkin says, “I had so many wow moments. I’ve looked at the negatives and they didn’t have much impact, and [once digitized] now you see these figures and clothing and the faces and all of a sudden you go, ‘This is unbelievable.’ The purest of pure gold is in front of you. … They’re just exquisite.”
After their stint at the Benjamin L. Hooks library, the photos will move to other satellite locations as a part of the Flow Museum’s initiative. “It’s a history museum, a research museum, and an educational facility,” Etkin says. “But people can be intimidated by the idea of museums, so we’re bringing the museum to the communities.
“I tell people this all the time,” he continues, “I love dusty old artifacts, and I could live with them and I actually do, but the museum can’t exist on its collections alone. It’s what you do with the collections, making it relevant to today, making it community-oriented, moving it into the 21st century.” And by engaging the community and stimulating discussion, Etkin hopes that his selection of Hooks Brothers photos can do just that.
Captured at a Cotton Jubilee, as photographed by the Hooks Brothers (Courtesy of Flow Museum of Art & Culture)
Tigerman Karate Dojo & Museum (Photo: Abigail Morici)
Eighty-seven years ago, Elvis was born. Forty-seven years ago, he earned his eighth-degree black belt, and somewhere in between, he released some music and movies and earned his title as the King of Rock-and-Roll. Admittedly, these accomplishments, not his karate skills, are probably the reason fans celebrate his birthday to this day. But some fans haven’t forgotten his karate chops, and in fact, they plan to celebrate Elvis’ 87th at his first dojo, which has since been converted into the Tigerman Karate Dojo & Museum, where you can take karate and check out some rare Elvis memorabilia, like the ambulance that drove Elvis from Graceland the day he died.
On January 7th, the Tigerman Birthday Bash will host guests like Mindi Miller, Elvis’ girlfriend in the ’70s, who shared an interest in karate; Wayne Mann and Janet Smith, Elvis’ first-cousins; and Joey Smith, Elvis’ second-cousin who lived at Graceland and now works at the dojo/museum. Colin Paul, a musician and Elvis enthusiast, has traveled from his home in the UK to Memphis “to hook up with [his] American Elvis family” and to interview Miller, who will talk about her personal relationship with Elvis. YouTube Elvis documentarians, Spa Guy (who also owns the dojo/museum) and Globetrotting with Trey, will also be in attendance. During the party, attendees will have a chance to meet with the special guests and take part in the usual party activities, like eating birthday cake, which will be cut at midnight.
“Even though it’s the day before Elvis’ birthday, we are planning to celebrate until midnight when it turns January 8th,” says Gabrielle Stout, the party’s organizer. “It’s just a chance for Elvis fans to get together, and I’m looking forward to seeing all the smiling faces.”
Stout says she has always loved Elvis, and coincidentally, the party is going to be held on her birthday. “It’s going to be the best birthday I’ve ever had because, one, I get to be around the people I care about, and, two, I get to share my birthday with Elvis.”
“Just because you’re covered, it doesn't mean that you can’t express yourself,” says designer Lina Dweik. (Credit: Courtesy Lina Dweik)
Memphian Lina Dweik launched her fashion brand in June 2021, and by year’s end, she has had her work shown in the Turino Fashion Week in Italy, received an official proclamation from Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, and is set to showcase her collection at Memphis Fashion Week (MFW) in 2022.
Dweik always harbored a passion for fashion. “It really started off ever since I was young, feeling a little left out in the fashion world,” she says. “I’ve always liked high-quality fabrics and elevated designs. At the same time, I wanted to remain modest. I always felt a little isolated. It was either high fashion that was revealing or very modest clothing that was so bland, so out-dated.”
That being said, Dweik never really imagined herself designing clothes professionally. In fact, she earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and is currently working toward her master’s in public health with a concentration in social and behavioral science at the University of Memphis. But, she says, “I’ve always been into sketching things I wanted to see or to wear.” And with that spark of inspiration and a desire to “dabble” in the fashion world, she applied to 2020 Memphis Fashion Week’s Emerging Designer Project, where designers have six months to make their designs runway-ready.
Unfortunately, with MFW planned for March 2020, Covid intervened. “It wasn’t your typical runway. We had to put our clothes on hangers and not models,” Dweik says. “It was still a great experience. Those six months showed me that this was something I really wanted to continue as a career.”
For her first collection, which she designed for MFW and is now for sale on her website, Dweik says, “I was really inspired by all things luxurious, and that’s why it’s called the empress collection. … For that collection I was really inspired by the women being so majestic and so royal.”
Dweik (left) with a model (Credit: Courtesy Lina Dweik)
In the collection, Dweik blends the use of delicate high-end fabrics like silk and satin with structured cuts that emphasize a feminine boldness. The colors are regal with jewel tones and pastels, embroidered in intricate patterns that don’t shy away from drawing attention while still remaining modest such that each design is opaque and makes the wearer feel covered. “The whole brand purpose is to redefine modesty,” Dweik says. “Just because you’re covered, it doesn’t mean that you can’t express yourself, that you can’t express your personality. So with this collection you can pick and choose what reflects your personality.”
Dweik’s goal with each of her garments is to make the wearer “feel glamorous, empowered, and spoiled. … I think that goes back to my interest in psychology. I have this interest in helping people,” she says. “My whole reason for starting this brand is wanting to help women like myself.
“I want to break misconceptions, even in my own head, that modest wear is only for the Middle East. But moving so often, living in the U.S., Canada, overseas, I’ve come into contact with numerous women from different religions, races, backgrounds, and they have that same mindset of wanting to dress modestly.”
Modesty, to Dweik, has no borders, so it’s no wonder why she was asked to be a part of the Torino Fashion Week this November. Due to Covid, the fashion week was virtual, but Dweik had the opportunity to send her garments and models to Italy to film her collection though she couldn’t attend in-person herself. Even so, because of her involvement in the Torino Fashion Week, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris awarded the designer a proclamation for representing Memphis as a creative hub.
Lina Dweik received an official proclamation from Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris for representing Memphis as a creative hub. (Credit: Courtesy Lina Dweik)
“Living here for so long, for over 20 years, Memphis has a special place in my heart,” Dweik says. “I really wanted to show that Memphis is a beautiful melting pot of cultures, and I wanted to emphasize that through how diverse the designs are. … We got great feedback from women who don’t look like me, and it was beautiful to hear them saying thank you for doing that and for showing the beauty of modesty and starting the conversation.”
Her next collection will be released in fall of 2022, but before then, Dweik is hopeful for her first actual runway during Memphis Fashion Week in April.
“Black Artists in America” (Photo: Courtesy Dixon)
“People have a sort of mythological thinking about the arts, that, oh, it’s open and it’s free and it’s inclusive. But the art world is not,” says Earnestine Jenkins, University of Memphis art professor. “It has the same issues with exclusion of many artists who do not happen to be white, just like any other discipline or sector.” As such, many Black artists have been left out of the canon, despite their vital artistic practices which reflected and often subverted art movements of the time. As scholars work to rectify this gap in art history, the Dixon Gallery & Gardens’ latest exhibition — “Black Artists in America: From the Great Depression to Civil Rights” — brings this conversation about racism in the arts to Memphis and the Mid-South.
The exhibition of more than 50 pieces — sculptures, drawings, prints, and paintings from private and public collections in Memphis and throughout the states — chronologizes the Black artistic response to the social, economic, and political movements following the Harlem Renaissance through the 1950s. Two artists, who lived and worked in Memphis, shine in this exhibit: Vertis Hayes and Reginald Morris. Morris’ murals are on display for the first time, outside of their home at Second Congregational Church. In fact, Jenkins adds, “Most of the works in this exhibition have never been shown, not only in Memphis but in this entire region. To be able to finally see a lot of these works was a thrill even for me.”
Admission to the Dixon is free through the end of 2021.
“Black Artists in America: From the Great Depression to Civil Rights,” Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4439 Park, On display through January 2nd.
Buffalo are all aglow for this run. (Photo: Courtesy Shelby Farms Park)
With the last two years not being anyone’s year, we’re just going to have to run with whatever 2022 brings. But at the very least, you can start the year on a lighter note by joining in on Shelby Farms Park’s Starry Nights fun with the BuffaGLO Run.
“It’s your last chance to see the lights for this year’s season,” says Rebecca Dailey, the park’s communications specialist. “And it’s a great way to kickstart your new year with some physical activity.” The 2.25-mile race is untimed, so you can stroll and stop and take pictures by the lights or, as Dailey puts it, you can “run at the speed of light.” Either way, the path will be aglow until 9 p.m., so don your favorite glow stick necklaces and neon running pants for this event. Plus, strollers and dogs are welcome, so the whole family can be a part of the fun.
This year’s path will be a bit brighter than previous years with the park’s addition of more displays, including some Memphis-themed ones. “We have a display version of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge that’s lit up like the Mighty Lights,” Dailey points out as an example. Another addition to this season’s run is a new fundraising element. “Runners can personally fundraise or add an additional donation to their registration fee. Even something as simple as registering can help the park stay open 365 days.”
After all, the park is beautiful year-round, even without the allure of Starry Nights. “People don’t think of winter as the peak park time, but it is a great opportunity for anyone who sets fitness goals for their New Year’s resolutions,” Dailey says. “We just want to encourage people to get out and enjoy themselves and use the park for rest and respite which is just as needed, for mental fitness.”
BuffaGlo Run, Shelby Farms Park, 6903 Great View, Sunday, January 2nd, 7 p.m., $25, register online.
Opera Memphis carolers (Photo: Courtesy Opera Memphis)
If anyone has a good holiday playlist, it’s going to be Opera Memphis. They know how to do Christmas carols, trust me. When asked for her favorite carol, Kerriann Otaño, Opera Memphis’ marketing and public relations manager, answers, “I would say ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’ has really taken on a special meaning in the past couple of years.” Meanwhile, Bethania Baray, director of education and civic programs, claims “Mi Burrito Sabanero” as her favorite holiday tune, a Latin American song about traveling on a donkey to Bethlehem to see baby Jesus. Both songs have a common thread — that of searching for a place of belonging.
Following that theme, Opera Memphis and Cazateatro Bilingual Theater Group are hosting a Christmas Fiesta at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens. The event holds a dual purpose: to educate and to welcome. “The goal is for the Spanish-speaking community to see their community represented and feel at home,” Baray says. “It’ll be a full celebration of all Latin American Christmas traditions.”
Opera Memphis will sing carols in both English and Spanish, and in a special performance, Carlos Romero will sing traditional Mexican carols while other performers will sing Venezuelan, Brazilian, and Puerto Rican tunes. “There’s going to be a lot of Latin music,” Baray says. “And a lot of Latin food. Cazateatro has been in charge of all of the vendors. There’s going to be a plethora of things. Lots of artisans, crafts.
“We also have a scavenger hunt around the garden for kids to be a part of,” Baray continues. Plus, she adds, Cazateatro has arranged for the Three Magi Kings to join in the festivities and to hand out a surprise present to each child in attendance.
The two groups have also put together a panel discussion for guests to learn more about the traditions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Otaño says, “It’s just a fun opportunity for these two organizations that are so community-minded to get involved and reach new audiences and share in such an exciting time of year.” In Otaño and Baray’s point of view, every tradition is worth sharing in, from piñatas and poinsettias to parrandas and posadas.
Christmas Fiesta, Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park, Saturday, December 18, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., free.
Austin Scott and Carvens Lissaint (Credit: Joan Marcus)
How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by Providence impoverished in squalor grow up to be a hero and a scholar? You know who we’re talking about — everyone’s favorite $10-bill founding father — Alexander Hamilton. And he’s coming to Memphis.
Yes, that’s right: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is coming to the Orpheum Theatre for 16 performances, December 21st through January 2nd. If you haven’t been able to snatch up some highly coveted tickets, producer Jeffrey Seller and the Orpheum have announced a digital #HAM4HAM lottery for 40 $10-tickets for each performance. The first lottery has opened for the performances December 21st-26th, and it will close at noon on Thursday, December 16th. Subsequent digital lotteries will begin on each Friday and close the following Thursday for the upcoming week’s performances.
To enter, download the official Hamilton app (available for all iOS and Android devices). Once in the app, find the lottery icon, scroll to “Memphis,” choose your choice performance day(s)/time(s), and sign up with your email address. Easy-peasy. Only one entry per person, and repeat entries and disposable email addresses will be discarded.
Winners will receive email and mobile push notifications between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. every Thursday for the upcoming week’s performances. Winners will have two hours to claim and pay for their ticket(s). Up to two tickets can be purchased, and tickets are non-transferable.
For more information on the lottery or to purchase tickets, visit orpheum-memphis.com. Check the official Hamilton channels and orpheum-memphis.com for late release seats which may become available at short notice.
If you weren’t lucky enough to spot the hawk at the Cash Saver the other week or if you prefer to see birds sitting over a nest of eggs rather than on top shelves of egg cartons, the park rangers at T.O. Fuller State Park can point you in the right direction (and they can teach you a little bit about the birds you see, too).
This Thursday, Park Ranger Jessica Gossett is hosting the park’s third session of her birding series, during which birding beginners can learn about bird conservation, common birds in the Mid-South, and seasonal changes in bird populations, behavior, and appearance. This session is all about winter birds in the wetlands. After learning the ins and outs of the birding life, birders will get a chance to do some birding of their own, documenting the waterfowl and other wildlife in the wetlands along Riverport Road.
“At this moment, I know we have a bunch of starlings, and we do have some Carolina wren, some eastern bluebirds but those are hard to find because they are small and huddle up,” says Park Ranger Decoda Muller. “But mostly right now what you’re gonna find is birds of prey.”
Muller, for his part, is hosting an event of his own this Saturday: the park’s first ever Winter Camporee. The park has already had its annual Camporee, but this one is a bit more tailored to the season, so guests can bundle up and gather around the campfire to roast s’mores and hot dogs and sip on some hot cocoa. Muller has also teased that he will be giving each guest an outdoor-related gift. “It’s going to be a surprise,” he says.
Fees for both the Mid-South Birding 101 and the Winter Camporee will go toward the park’s conservation, programming, and projects. To register or for a schedule of even more upcoming events, visit tnstateparks.com/parks/t-o-fuller. (Next week, the park is hosting a class on making healthy treats for birds.)
Mid-South Birding 101: Winter in the Wetlands, T.O. Fuller State Park, Thursday, December 9th, 9:15-11:15 a.m., $10-$20;
Winter Camporee 2021, Saturday, December 11th, 4:30-7 p.m., $10-$25.
Hattiloo Theatre as a juke joint (Photo: Greg Soloman)
Developed by Ekundayo Bandele, CEO and founder of Hattiloo, this show is a montage of holiday jokes and stories, rap, singing, dancing, and so much more. “The story is these four people who get together and enjoy Christmas,” Bandele says. “For one of them, it’s her club, and the others are her regulars. There’s not really an arc in the traditional sense; it’s just fun.”
And, Bandele emphasizes, the show is interactive. “What we’re missing in theater is the interactive spirit — having audiences not just sit there watching something but being an active participant,” he says. “I’ve always loved spoken word things, and when you go to these spoken word shows, you snap and you hoot and you’re a part of the performance as opposed to just a spectator. I wanted to create something that gave the audience permission to enjoy themselves.”
That’s why the juke-joint set extends into the crowd, why there’s no separation between what is scripted and what isn’t, why the performers address the audience and walk from table to table. “You’re laughing with your friends and shouting at the stage because there’s no fourth wall,” Bandele says.
The family-friendly performances are about an hour and 10 minutes long, and the show will run through December 19th. Tickets are available to purchase online at hattiloo.org.
A Holiday Juke Joint, Hattiloo Theatre, 37 Cooper, Thursday-Sunday, December 2nd-5th, Various Times, $30.
Angel Castillo and
Ally Castillo (Photo: Mark Seliger)
“The whole city is a dark closet, with entrapment, harassment, and copying of license plate numbers from cars parked outside bars,” wrote a visitor to Memphis in 1969 — his words meant to shock his audience with the reality lying below the Mason-Dixon line for LGBTQ individuals, even as the effects of the Stonewall Riots ricocheted and spurred the gay liberation movement throughout the nation.
But such a statement would shock no Memphian half a century ago and even today. Just the other week, councilman Edmund Ford Sr. berated Alex Hensley, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ special assistant, for their use of she/they pronouns. A few weeks prior to that, Briarcrest Christian School promoted a class titled “God Made Them Male and Female and That Was Good: a Gospel Response to Culture’s Gender Theory.” Meanwhile, the state of Tennessee actively legislates against trans people, having introduced five anti-trans bills into law this year alone.
It’s a saddening reality that, even in our blue oasis of a city, transgender — nonbinary and gender diverse — individuals lack the community support and representation they need and deserve. As recently as this September, Memphis witnessed its first trans-focused art exhibition at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art: “On Christopher Street: Transgender Portraits by Mark Seliger.” Transgender individuals have always been here in Memphis, but this exhibit in 2021 marks the first time they have been truly celebrated in Memphis and the Mid-South by an institution as historically and culturally significant as the Brooks.
Adrian Torres and Carmen Carrera, kids Leeah Guiterez and Ahsia Lee TorresM. David Soliven
Why Christopher Street? Christopher Street in New York City is home to the Stonewall Inn — the site of the 1969 Stonewall Riots. Today, though, the street that was once sanctuary to queer and trans folk is slowly losing its identity as gentrification seeps in over the city — a sadly familiar phenomenon.
Photographer Mark Seliger noticed this pattern and set out to document the street in 2016 before it completely lost its vibrancy. Seliger, who has photographed for GQ, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, to name a few, began this project by photographing people he found interesting along the street. Before long, as he got to know his subjects, particularly his trans subjects, he realized the through-line of his story was not just that of gentrification but that of the trans community.
“Once I started to hear their stories, their struggles and triumphs, it turned into a bigger body of work,” he says. “This was the first time for many of them to be photographed, I think, in what they consider to be their real identity.”
Angelique Piwinski sat for one of the portraits after being connected to Seliger through one of her friends. Piwinski had worked in advertising for 41 years and was an executive vice-president for the last 20 before retiring in 2018. “I had heard of Mark from the ad point of view,” she says. “I’ve never needed portrait stuff done [for myself]. … When they said Mark Seliger is going to shoot it, I was like, what? I was in awe of the guy.
“You look at the photographs; you see the use of lighting. He captured the essence of me in the picture,” she continues. “Is it a glamor shot? No, it’s not the selfie I would take, but I think he captured a certain essence.”
Since retirement, Piwinski has advocated for LGBTQ+ rights and has led diversity and inclusion lectures and trainings in the corporate environment. “If I can change a couple of lives, I’ll be happy doing that — even one life would be a super reward. I’m putting a face to a group of people,” she says. “People need to come into a museum and be comfortable and see themselves somewhere. If you don’t represent as many different types of life stories, you’re going to miss the mark.”
Jamel Young and Leiomy MaldonadoShaGasyia Diamond
From New York to Memphis In 2018, Rosamund Garrett, the curator for this exhibition, moved to Memphis from London with her wife Lucy, a photojournalist. “I didn’t know what it was going to be like to be queer in Memphis, and sometimes, I think, the South doesn’t always sound like the friendliest for queer people from the outside,” she says. “But when I came here, I found that there was this very rich and diverse selection of LGBTQ+ cultural organizations and that there are huge numbers of queer and gender-diverse people here. Which was a really wonderful discovery — that I can hold Lucy’s hand in the street.”
But Garrett soon discovered that the Brooks had yet to do an exhibit with an LGBTQ+ focus. “I felt it was a moral imperative to do something,” she says, so she took to searching online for inspiration and found a website that listed Seliger’s collection, which was originally compiled in a book, as being available for exhibition. “It had been listed on the website for several years, and no one in a U.S. art museum had taken it. I was surprised; these photographs are beautiful.”
Curating this exhibit of 34 portraits, Garrett says, has changed the way the museum works. For the first time in its history, the museum formed and paid advisory groups, consisting of local LGBTQ+ organizations and the portrait sitters. “We used their feedback to build everything — to build the interpretation, the labels, the education space that we got in the exhibition, the programming that we got,” Garrett says. “And from this emerged two close community partners, OUTMemphis and My Sistah’s House.”
Alex Hauptman, the transgender services manager at OUTMemphis, was a part of one of these advisory groups. “We talked about what elements could be incorporated into the exhibit to make it feel like it wasn’t exploitive and that there was purpose to the exhibit,” he says. “That was really refreshing. I really appreciate the intentionality, and I think a big piece of that is owed to Dr. Garrett.”
Garrett, however, is humble in that regard. “Although I’m the curator,” she says, “in this sense, it was a lot more like a facilitation role.” Usually, the curator writes all the wall text and the labels, but in this instance, Garrett wrote only the introductory wall text while the labels beside the portraits are in the words of the portrait sitters. “The idea is really for me to melt in the background and to let their voice come through.”
At the exhibit’s entrance, a documentary film featuring several of the portrait sitters plays, giving the viewer a chance to meet the person before seeing their photo. The exhibit also has an accompanying audio tour on SoundCloud, where visitors can hear the portrait sitters’ voices — the inflections, the pauses, the emotions — as they stare directly into the camera lens, directly at the viewer, with an intense vulnerability that begs the observer to listen to their story and take time to witness them as the individuals they are.
“A lot of times the sort of dislike or distrust or gross-out, sideshow factor of the trans community that the mainstream population might have is because they don’t have a close interaction or a close connection to a trans person or the trans community,” Hauptman says. “So like, they only see it on TV or in the punch line on comedy shows, so they only have a very specific lens that they view trans people through that’s not humanizing and usually pretty one-dimensional.
“Part of me just hopes that maybe people who don’t have a lot of exposure to trans folks go to this exhibit and see this human side and read the stories on the walls or even just look at the people in the portraits and make a connection that was missing for them that helps see them as human people,” Hauptman continues. “Trans people have very unique experiences, but they’re still relatable.”
Mahayla McElroyBenjamin Melzer
A Beginning “We’ve thought a lot about the legacy of the show,” Garrett says. “One key part of that is making sure that the trans community is always represented in this museum.” So, to add to the Brooks’ permanent collection, the Hyde Foundation purchased one of Seliger’s portraits — that of ShayGaysia Diamond, a musician who was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and raised in Memphis.
“That portrait is the first portrait that you’ll see,” Garrett says. “And it’s the first portrait — that we know of — of someone who self-identifies as trans to enter the permanent collection, and since then we’ve bought five historic press photographs of trans women from the ’50s and ’70s, including the American icon Christine Jorgensen and the British equivalent, I would say, April Ashley.” These five photographs are along the exterior wall of the exhibit.
The actual exhibition space isn’t square; the walls are faceted, so the portraits surround the viewer from every angle. “Because of this odd shape,” Garrett says, “it kinda feels like a hug.”
“It’s funny — I’m not an overly emotional person,” Hauptman says. But during opening weekend in mid-September, when he was alone in the exhibit for the first time and surrounded by the portraits, he says, “it just kinda hit me that this is the first time I’ve gone to a legit museum — I’ve been to art shows, galleries, stuff like that — but this was the first time I’ve ever walked into a museum and saw people that had experiences similar to mine that were part of a community that I was a part of, surrounding me on the walls, and celebrated in a way that they were displayed beautifully and with pride.
“It hit me. I can see people who are a part of my community reflected on the walls back at me. I can see different pieces of myself told back to me, which doesn’t happen often in a museum. It was a lot more impactful than I thought it was going to be. I kinda got choked up for a second. I’m 37 years old; trans people have been around for a really long time. It shouldn’t be this big of a deal, but it was. I’m not trying to diminish the exhibit.”
Similarly, Garrett adds, “It’s never enough but it’s the beginning. … Museums reflect the society in which we live, and that’s why they’re not always equitable places. However, museums can also try to help shape the society in which we live because people’s stories, which is culture, can change things like policy by winning over people’s minds and hearts first. Small exhibitions like this can just start to nudge people in a little bit of a kinder, more loving, more respectful direction.”
Before leaving the exhibition space, visitors have the opportunity to write down comments in a spiral notebook stationed near the entrance. Inside it are an overwhelming number of messages of gratitude, from guests young and old, gender-non-conforming and cisgender, thanking the Brooks for their commitment, intentionality, and education behind this exhibit.
Ni’Tee Spady
Memphis’ Christopher Street When visiting this exhibition, Garrett encourages the viewer to consider where or what your Christopher Street might be. “To me,” she says, “Memphis is like the Christopher Street of the South. Both places are complicated, but I think Memphis is a beacon in a region that can otherwise be difficult for many communities.”
Like Christopher Street, Memphis is undergoing its own bout of gentrification, making areas that have affordable housing become smaller and smaller, displacing more and more people. “I hope that this show helps people to question who you’re consulting when you’re building,” Garrett says. “Are you bringing the community with you? What are the processes by which we’re evolving our communities? How can you keep what is integral to Memphis?”
Even though he moved to Memphis just under two years ago, Hauptman says, “I can see the economical impact [gentrification] is having. There was already a big gap in socioeconomic stability with the trans community and LGBTQ community; I think it’s driving a wedge, the rent is going up, so the people who were already struggling with rent are struggling more. The housing options are less and less livable.”
As part of his many responsibilities as the transgender services manager at OUTMemphis, Hauptman oversees the nonprofit’s OUTLast Emergency Assistance fund, which provides immediate resources for trans people of color, LGBTQ+ seniors, people living with HIV, and undocumented LGBTQ+ individuals.
“A lot of people in OUTLast are unhoused. They stay in hotels, stay with friends,” he says. “Through the OUTLast program, we see a lot of trans people who don’t have stable housing, don’t have consistent income, aren’t able to get secure jobs, and have to resort to underground economies. There’re a lot of folks who struggle every day here.”
Organizations like OUTMemphis seek to alleviate some of that struggle, and Hauptman also points to My Sistah’s House, run by Kayla Gore, which provides emergency housing for gender-non-conforming people of color. “But there’s never as much resource as there needs to be,” he says.
“Trans people are statistically underemployed,” Hauptman says. “They don’t make as much money as even cis individuals in the LGBTQ community. People don’t want to hire them; they get fired. This is a state that has no gender equality protections for employees so they can be fired for coming out or being trans. They can be discriminated against for housing. They can be denied rental applications for being trans. There are no protections. People can deny them basic opportunities just for being trans.” All this is in addition to the mental health struggles perpetuated by stigma and lack of access to resources — not to mention the rising violence against transgender people. Forbes called 2021 the “deadliest year” for transgender people since records of such violence began.
To shift this narrative, Hauptman encourages people to vote, donate, advocate for trans rights, share information on social media, hire trans people, rent apartments to them, be aware of and correct language and misconceptions. “I do encourage people to do their own education around trans issues. Start in that corner of the museum, where there are educational resources,” Hauptman says. “Look at where you’re at and look at where your power lies and your privilege — how can you use that to help people and make a difference?
“I think, for a lot of people, they might not see the value in a museum doing an exhibit like this,” he continues. “The more spaces that do things like this, that show trans people in a bold, unapologetic way, it helps spread the message that it shouldn’t be a bold move to do this. For the Brooks, it should just be a beautiful portrait exhibit of beautiful people, but we’re not there yet. But the more areas of life in general where we can have the presence, it starts to shift the space in terms of what’s safe.”
“On Christopher Street: Transgender Portraits by Mark Seliger” is on display at the Brooks Museum of Art until January 2, 2022. For more information on the exhibition, visit brooksmuseum.org/christopherstreet. For LGBTQ+ resources, visit outmemphis.org or call 901-278-6422.
