Hey all!

As many of you know, I've been working on a project called Q'llage for the past four years. Q'llage draws connections between the strategies that support me and my queer community to stay true to ourselves and resilience in nature.

This project has involved over 40 local LGBTQ2IA+ community members through interviews, workshops, and various forms of collaboration. My vision is for Q'llage to be ongoing, and the first exhibit of collages from the project, titled 'Coming In,' (also my first solo exhibit ever) is opening at Public Functionary in Minneapolis on June 10th!

Alongside my artwork, there will be a wall of one hundred 8"x8" community collages about people's experiences with gender, sexuality, family and love. Some are being created before the show, and there will be a station at the exhibit for people to continue adding their voices to the wall.

I'm also working with a beautiful crew to create a BOOK about Q'llage....woah. What a dream.

The first $5k will support the following short-term needs:

-Events budget (I will be hosting multiple events while the exhibit is up)

-Supplies for the Community Collage project

-Book costs (PF is generously fronting a lot of this, but books require a lot of resources to create!)

-Extra hours for my two wonderful studio assistants during this final push

The second $5k will go towards funding Q'llage beyond this first exhibit. Folks have already expressed interest in being featured in the next collage, and there are many more people I'm excited to engage. This project is soul/heart work for me and I hope to nurture it for years to come.

Thank you so, so much.

Nell

P.S. Credit & gratitude to Photographer Drew Arietta for the photo of me dancing in the studio!