During Pride Month this year, the Biggs Museum of American Art is rolling out a new initiative called “A Vision of Pride,” where the Biggs commissions or purchases a work of art from a Delawarean LGBTQ+ artist to be featured on an outdoor banner throughout June and reproduce that banner as collectible prints for the Delaware Pride Festival.
Situated across from Dover’s Legislative Mall, the Biggs Museum of American Art has a front row seat to Delaware’s Annual Pride Festival, a celebration of all of the identities and accomplishments of the LGBTQ+ community.
The single largest LGBTQ+ gathering in Delaware, the Pride Festival takes place Saturday (today), and helps give the community exposure and recognition, while promoting diversity and visibility for the community.
To kick off the initiative, the Biggs chose LGBTQ+ activist Murray Archibald’s “Drag Revolution”. Biggs Director Michael Dudich said that Archibald was a natural choice. “I think Murray and his work in support of the LGBTQ community in Delaware is well-known. One of the founders of CAMP Rehoboth, and such an accomplished artist in his own right, that we were actually surprised that none of his work was in our collection. So it became a natural thing to reach out to Murray about being the first artist for ‘Vision of Pride’.”
CAMP Rehoboth is a nonprofit community service organization that seeks to create a positive environment inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities in Rehoboth Beach and related communities. CAMP Rehoboth was founded in 1991 by Murray Archibald and his husband Steve Elkins, along with Jim Bahr and an organizing team of volunteers.
Biggs Curator Laura Fravel affirmed Dudich’s remarks, noting that her initial viewing of Archibald’s “Drag Revolution” left her joyful. “It is bright, it’s colorful - it has these bold patterns, and I think that joy itself is a very radical act and that it is a very radical and joyful piece…it feels kind of relentless - it keeps pulling you back in.”
Fravel added that early response to the Biggs inclusion has been very positive. “It’s been fun already - we’ve had it up for about a week and already we’ve had people taking selfies in front of the building, people taking photos with it.”
The Biggs Museum is located at 406 Federal Street in Dover, and is open 11-4, Thursday through Sunday.
In this edition of Arts Playlist, Delaware Public Media’s Karl Lengel sat down with Biggs Curator Laura Fravel and Biggs Director Michael Dudich to learn more about “A Vision of Pride” and its significance.
