Friends –

This time last week, we were scrambling across Asheville and around Revolve at RAMP Studios, putting the finishing touches on Up/Rooted, the art exhibition that we have been working toward all summer.  

Today, we’re still smiling from Friday’s opening reception, where folks from across Asheville showed up to see special work created by queer artists. Liz displayed a series of beautiful mixed media portraits and Al showcased meditative metalwork sculptures; taken together, they tell a story about where queer Southerners have come from and how we can build from those roots.

Up/Rooted marked the culmination of our artist residency with Southern Equality Studios, a project conceived by the Campaign for Southern Equality and launched in 2018. Undergirding the project is a devout belief in the powerful role that art and storytelling play in building community and in creating social change. Our exhibition adds to a long legacy of activists turning to their art to speak out against injustice and craft a vision of what’s possible when we come together to create the world we believe is possible.

Click here to check out photos from the Up/Rooted exhibition. And here, you can listen to us in an in-depth Blue Ridge Public Radio segment talking about Southern Equality Studios and Up/Rooted.

We’re so grateful that the Campaign for Southern Equality invests in queer artists like us through Southern Equality Studios. It’s pretty unique to see a nonprofit organization like CSE – one that mobilizes support for LGBTQ equality through legal action, policy advocacy, and direct services – get behind artists using their talent as a force for social change. But CSE has always done things differently, and that’s part of what drew us to want to join the staff team here. We think Southern Equality Studios is a beautiful example of what’s possible when organizers don’t just think outside the box, but actually step outside of it. 

We would love to see CSE be able to support more queer Southern artists in the future – and we’d love your help in making that possible. Will you join us in making a donation to CSE to support queer Southern artists through the Southern Equality Studios program? Click here to donate $15, $10, or more.

Up/Rooted will be on display in Asheville until September 3. The portraits are also printed in a small full-color “zine” form and are available to order for $10. Just email [email protected] to get your copy. 

Thank you for your support,
Liz Williams and Al Murray
Artists in Residence
Southern Equality Studios

P.S. Big thank you to Revolve (Colby Caldwell and Anna Helgeson), Blue Ridge Public Radio, Asheville FM, Asheville Made, Asheville View, Mountain Xpress,  WLOS, Wicked Weed Brewery, and all of the artists who participated in Up/Rooted portraits.