The Identity Center

Service Description

The Identity Center is a diversity activity for employees or conference and convention participants. It is a traveling, socially-engaged vibrant art project that engages, affirms or expands participants awareness of the diversity of humanity while providing the opportunity for dialogue mixed with creativity in a community setting. The project begins with the “Identity Center”, which is sited at art and non-art locations, such as churches, nonprofits, conferences, farmer’s markets, Pride festivals and other events across the United States. The traveling Identity Center consists of 19 gender and sexual identity labels, with their definitions, that have color-coded ribbons and a community loom. Participants select the gender and sexual identity ribbons that most closely defines them and weave them into the loom. The process of selecting their ribbons encourages exploration of the variety of identities and creates dialogue between the artist/facilitator and other participants. This community creative experience establishes their connectedness to others: generating awareness, understanding and compassion while exploring the depth and beauty of an inclusive humanity. After each site completes their weaving, Denise, the artist/facilitator, stabilizes it and enhances it by adding color neutral artistic fiber elements. The final tapestry is a visual language of all the identities represented at that site and date and showcases humanity’s expansive nature. The final component will be a traveling gallery exhibit of the completed tapestries with its own socially-engaged “Identity Center”, providing for an ever expanding visual record of sexual and gender identities.

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