For Your Viewing Pleasure…Hidden Histories

Okay, so this is not the same "Hidden Histories" as the wonderful online columns I posted about earlier, but rather a documentary from the In the Life program. And you can watch it online!

This month IN THE LIFE reveals hidden treasures in LGBT history which, unknown to many, have had lasting impact in shaping our lives. In the Smithsonian's historic and controversial Hide/Seek exhibit, sexual expression and desire in American Art is viewed in a new way. And, we delve into the sexually charged, fiercely liberated, and fascinating life of Samuel Steward.

If you're in D.C., you might also think about seeing this documentary: A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde.

But wait, there's more … in D.C.  (1/28)

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery presents a symposium in conjunction with the exhibition "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture." "Addressing (and Redressing) the Silence: New Scholarship in Sexuality and American Art" gathers American art historians who will propose and promote new paradigms for understanding the fraught relationship between sexuality and portraiture. In 11 papers spanning 100 years of American history, themes of racial, sexual and gendered difference will be reassessed to yield new interpretations of the history of modern American art.

Participants must register to attend the symposium, which will take place at the National Portrait Gallery Jan. 29 in the Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium.