Stones to Rainbows/Gay to Queer Lives creates dynamic pop-up multi-media cabaret-style performances within the cradle of Queerhenge, an archival installation of closet doors animated by multimedia collage and light design. Both the performances as well as the installation evolve from the cross-generational and inter-sectional dialogues and experiences of Boston area LGBTQ+ people. Through present-day interviews, archival research and creative workshops, past meets present, older meets younger, gay meets queer. These exchanges are translated and expressed through photographic and film installations, music, spoken word, and dance.

Engaging

Performing

Our intergenerational dialogue spans 100 years, beginning with a dive into archived interviews preserved by our partners at The History Project. Facilitated conversations span nine decades: LGBTQ+ teens engage with 80+ years old gay mean in conversation about the reclaiming of the word "queer"; cis adults in their 50s discuss the construct of gender with nonbinary individuals in their 20s; and so on. Using Queerhenge as the foundation for conversation, each dialogue begins with one question: what allowed you to open your closet door? How and when and why did you let the light in?

Professional artists and community participants respond to these dialogues, using multiple perspectives and the gift of collaboration to animate 100 years of LGBTQ+ memories and experiences, histories and lineages. Live performances travel, with Queerhenge, to public parks, festivals, galleries, and more. Documentation of these performances create yet more doors to add to Queerhenge, visibly defining the ever evolving nature of self- and community-acceptance.

Photography Credits, Top to Bottom and Left to Right:
Courtesy of The History Project: Documenting LGBTQ Boston (Circa 1990)
Debbie Rich (1985), Courtesy of The History Project: Documenting LGBTQ Boston
Courtesy of The History Project: Documenting LGBTQ Boston (Circa 1945)
Debbie Rich (1987), Courtesy of The History Project: Documenting LGBTQ Boston
To learn more about these photos, please visit The History Project.