WONDER SYMPOSIUM
The Ringling Museum of Art
Friday, June 7, 2024; 3:00 PM

Exploring a Queer Sense of Wonder in the Arts
Presenters: Hunter O’Hanian & Andy Johnson

In this presentation, we explore the unique perspective queer artists employ to contemplate wonder in relationship to space, community, and the self.

Register Here.

BELONG — 2024 Annual Conference
The Association of Academic Museums and Galleries
Wednesday, June 26, 2024; 4:00 PM

Archeion: Journal of Queer Archives—A Case Study in Rethinking Museum Collections & Community Engagement
Presenters: Hunter O’Hanian & Andy Johnson

Founded in 1973, the Stonewall National Museum and Archive (SNMA), one of the largest LGBTQ archives in the United States, faced a dilemma most museums are familiar with—its collection was created by, collected by, and donated by majority white men. In an effort to recontextualize the collection, Hunter O’Hanian, former SNMA Director, launched Archeion: Journal of Queer Archives. The editorial directive sought to highlight SNMA exhibitions and collections, while embracing voices from historically underrepresented communities. Modeled on past LGBTQ publications from the 20th century (e.g. The Ladder, Mattachine Review, BLK, etc.), Archeion educated and informed museum audiences, tackling some of our most pressing contemporary issues.

Register Here.

Johnson received the 2023 Wherewithal Research Grant from Washington Project for the Arts, as part of the Andy Warhol Foundation’s Regional Regranting Program.

Who Cares for Artists? A Field Guide of Artistic Survival
His research is propelled by the question of how artists and creatives sustain challenging practices, ones that require mental, emotional, psychological, and physical agility. His research explores the role of care and repair as it pertains to the integrity of the artist themself, rather than the representation of care in objects or exhibitions. Artists carry the weight of complex and difficult subject matter that demands and depletes. They are challenged to remain whole as they alchemize and distill their relationship to gender identity and expression, class, sexuality, race and ethnicity, and immigration status. Part of this research project will include long-term studies with selected artists in an effort to build an insightful field guide of artistic survival.

Read more about the Wherewithal Grant Program.

Johnson recently received the 2023 and 2024 Arts & Humanities Fellowship Grant and the 2023-24 Curatorial (JEG) Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities in support of his scholarly, curatorial, and artistic practice.