ALLENTOWN, Pa. - If you want to learn about art and history, a series of free classes are starting.
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center will hold its eighth Art (and) History from a Queer Perspective series.
The four classes are free and open to the public.
- Bradbury-Sullivan Center will hold four free art history classes in December and January
- The first, "Empowering Anger! Queer Heroes & Icons Throughout History," is on Monday
- The classes will be taught by Director of the Training Institute Liz Bradbury in a hybrid format
Director of the Training Institute Liz Bradbury will hold her first class of the series on Monday, Dec. 5. The event is called "Empowering Anger! Queer Heroes & Icons Throughout History."
“If you take those icons and heroes away, you take away that inspiration for LGBT youth who need to have the support."
Liz Bradbury, director of the Training Institute at Bradbury-Sullivan Center
Bradbury said it is always important to highlight historical LGBTQ icons. But it especially matters now that there are laws being passed across the country that restrict how teachers can talk about LGBTQ issues and history in the classroom.
“If you take those icons and heroes away, you take away that inspiration for LGBT youth who need to have the support, they need to have this inspiration,” Bradbury said. “They need to have somebody to look up to. They need to have role models.”
Monday’s event will also be the artist’s reception for new paintings made by Bradbury. The class will feature a slideshow presentation with vignettes about the famous LGBTQ+ heroes and icons who inspired Bradbury’s work.
Other classes will be on Dec. 12, Jan. 2 and Jan 9. Those classes will be "LGBTQ+ Poets & Spies," "19th Century Queer Portrait Painters" and "Transmasculine Icon — Peter Pan & the LGBTQ+ People Who Created Pan."
Bradbury said the classes are intergenerational and appropriate for high school students and older people.
The classes are also offered virtually. Email Gabby@BradburySullivanCenter.org for the Zoom information. Masks are required for in-person classes.