Palmer Square Art Fair & Queer Social Club Present “Queer Art Party” This Weekend

Written by Morgan Ciocca on October 7, 2022

Palmer Square Art Fair and Queer Social Club present their first collaborative event, Queer Art Party, this Sunday at Sleeping Village. Organizers hope it can serve as a means of supporting artists financially as well as fostering relationships within Chicago’s LGBTQ community.

Queer Art Party is the first event out of a collaboration between two small, independent, community-based initiatives in Chicago: Queer Social Club, an effort to organize gatherings and hangouts for LGBTQ Chicagoans, including beach days, art markets and plant swaps; and Palmer Square Art Fair, a mid-size market started in July 2021 by Hannah Sellers to support small local artists.

Sellers began the Palmer Square Art Fair as a space for fellow local artists to make money and to form new friendships, especially from within the LGBTQ community. At this June’s Art Fair two organizers of Queer Social Club, Alexis Stein and Cam Sand, appreciated the community-centric nature of the event and approached Sellers about working together.

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“I think it was in our first conversation,” Sellers recalled. “I saw them and they were like, ‘Hey, this is really cool.’ And I said, ‘Hey, what you’re doing is really cool!’ And then it was just like, ‘Well, obviously, we should do something together, really cool.’”

Noticing overlap in their values and in their intentional event planning, conceptualizing a partnership began right away. The Queer Art Party is the fruit of their joint efforts, created with aspirations to be the first event in a longer term collaboration. Noting the community she has seen blossom at the Palmer Square Art Fairs, Sellers hopes Sunday’s event will continue to do the same.

“Something that can be more than just a transactional experience is really inspiring to me,” Sellers said. “It’s a place for people to come and shop, but also stay and hang out and meet new people.”

Stein and Sand of Queer Social Club also expressed their intentionality in fostering community at Sunday’s event.

“We hope to curate a unique experience that uplifts queer artists, musicians and makers,” Stein and Sand shared in a statement to Vocalo. “We also hope to create an accessible and low-stakes environment for queer folks to forge connections and friendships with one another.

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The Queer Art Party will include various vendors — including handmade ceramics, curated vintage clothing and earrings made form butterfly specimens — DJ Leah Dante, a portrait photographer, food and drinks. The event is 21+ per Sleeping Village policy, and free RSVP is available on the venue’s website.

“I hope a lot of people walk away with a new friend,” Sellers said. “And I just hope that it feels like a very warm and fun, exciting and inviting place to be.”

Find more information about Sunday’s Queer Art Party on the Palmer Square Art Fair Instagram, @palmersquareartfair.