This poetic reflection regarding Queer Artists Survival Salon: Recipes for Care, Hope, and Joy, which took place on February 13, 2025, at 465 Collective, was composed by Jason Wyman / Queerly Complex based upon a conversation between Beth Stephens / EARTH Lab SF and Jason on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Underneath the poem are the recipes collected and freely shared by their authors.
Please join us at our next Queer Artist Survival Salon: Queer Life Social Security on Thursday, April 3, 2025. RSVPs required.Â
Cold winds & large raindrops on a Thursday in February creating
Possible deterrents for gathering
Queer Artists in circle sharing
Our beings so tenderly with one another revealing
Recipes for care, hope, joy aidingUs in our Collective Queer Survival.Â
Still, we did gather 20 in circle talking
Story about sunshine moments & cuddle piles & mini resetting
Reboots & sex positivity & dismantling
Fascism & underground hot springs & love being
How we as Queer Artists creating
Create the worlds we & our forebears & our descendants desire Here & Now.
Over garlicky noodles several weeks later we gather
Once more to reflectUpon that which made
Our Queer Artists Survival Salon feel
Safe enough & brave enough & light enough & vulnerable enough for Us-All to be
Fully our whole, glorious Queer Beings, a revelation:
To be witnessed, to be reflected, to be affirmed is care & hope & joy.
May these poetics be a recipe that alongside all recipes crafted by Queer Artists on a cold and rainy 13 February 2025 at 465 Collective, a space residing upon Yelamu, aid Us-All in reflecting, witnessing, and affirming the fullness of Our Being Here & Now & Always & In All Ways.Â
The Recipes Collected
About Queer Artist Survival Salons
EARTH Lab SF (Beth Stephens) and Jason Wyman / Queerly Complex are hosting THREE Peer Exchanges at the new 465 Collective Space to harness the peer power of San Francisco Bay Area Queer Artists to co-create survival tactics, tools, and frameworks.
We, as queer / dyke / fag artists, know that our art / work / collections have been, continue to be, and will likely always be censored by domination, oppression, and tyranny. We will think, dream, and work together to develop tactics that ensure our being / art / work survives these attacks. Each Peer Exchange in this series focuses on a different aspect of queer / dyke / fag survival and uses arts-based activities to generate collective wisdom. We will gather our results into an online resource guide with the participants' consent. This guide will feature a summary of the Peer Exchanges, art activities to aid personal and collective exploration, and suggested material and actions for deeper understanding and analysis. We will autonomously and collectively take action to ensure queer / dyke / fag art / artists are more interconnected, documented, and their work shared, so that it / we survive long into the future.