Outside the Binary Art Project

My name is Rae Willis-Conger, and I'm fundraising for a public sociology art project.

As a PhD student, I recently finished a paper using in-depth interviews with people outside the gender binary. Inspired by projects like To Survive on This Shore, I want to transform the stories and advice I received through these interviews into a queer community art project. This project is important to me because it gives back to the queer community that makes my research (and self) possible.

I'll pair the advice given to me by my interviewees with a piece of art commissioned by queer artists. These pairings of art and advice are intended to work together to form a sort of Tarot-style tool for self-reflection. I envision a searchable website, where keywords could lead visitors to relevant advice and art. An online format would make this project widely accessible to queer people, regardless of location. As a queer kid growing up in rural Arizona, I know a resource like that would have meant a lot to me. I may also print out physical decks of these cards if there is interest.

All funds will go directly to gender queer artists. I have 40 pieces of advice, so my initial funding goal allocates $50 per piece of art. This is not a huge sum to pay artists, so if by some miracle we raise more than my funding goal, the artists will simply be paid better.

(Photo credit: The Gender Spectrum Collection)