Honoring VT's LGBTQ+ History in Downtown Rutland
Article originally posted as “Honoring VT's LGBTQ+ History: 'Pride 1983' Exhibit Debuts in Rutland” by Sophia Buckley-Clement
November 19, 2022
Eagle Times
Faces and artifacts from the first Vermont Lesbian and Gay Pride March currently line the walls of the Castleton University Bank Gallery in downtown Rutland for an exhibit in tribute to the historic day when 350 people paraded through downtown Burlington.
The exhibit, “Pride 1983,” features photographs and scanned images of historic memorabilia from the march on June 25, 1983, alongside audio recordings of interviews with 12 activists and organizers and accompanying portraits.
Presented by the Pride Center of Vermont and the Vermont Folklife Center, CU Bank Gallery Director Oliver Schemm said he jumped at the chance to host the exhibit when it was first brought to his attention.
“There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the fact that (this exhibit) is here,” Schemm said. “(We’re) bringing the community together in a space that’s celebrating these accomplishments. I mean, this was not a foregone conclusion that these civil rights for the LGBT community were going to happen. It was a lot of struggle. And (these) ‘Portraits of Pride’ talk about the beginning of the grass-roots movement of trying to get equality within Vermont.”
In addition to archival materials from the Vermont Queer Archives — a program through the Pride Center of Vermont — the exhibit also features queer artifacts from UVM Special Collections, the Out in the Open Andrews Inn Oral History Project and personal collections of those featured in the project.
“Pride 1983” was first displayed at Burlington City Arts during the summer before making its debut at the CU Bank Gallery last month. It will remain in Rutland until Jan. 15 when it will be picked up by the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center.
Exhibit curator Meg Tamulonis, of the Vermont Queer Archives, began working on the project around 2019 after consulting with Vermont Folklife Center Associate Director and Archivist Andy Kolovos.
“(Andy) and I had worked earlier in the 2000s on a project with the (Vermont Queer) Archives called the Dialogue Project, which was queer youth and others responding with artwork to interviews done with queer elders,” Tamulonis said. “Years later, Andy and I were talking about different projects, and one that really started to move forward was the little one about 1983 Pride.”
Though the creators of and contributors to “Pride 1983” were not able to show the exhibit until recently because of the pandemic, an online exhibit created by Kolovos was made available through Vermont Folklife Center’s website.
Tamulonis also gave credit to her fellow interviewers for the project, Vermont Folklife’s Education and Media Specialist Mary Wesley and now-retired Assistant Archivist Madeleine Winterfalcon, as well as to the project’s portrait photographer Michael Sharkey, a renowned Brooklyn-based artist and Bennington College alum.
“(This exhibit) meant a lot to me and, I think, for members of the LGBTQ community who were being interviewed to really be acknowledged for their role in the history of Vermont and in LGBTQ history and culture,” Tamulonis said. “All of (the interviewees) have been so generous with their time from the beginning to actually sitting down with professionals from the Folklife Center. Recording their stories around the 1983 Pride was really powerful and moving.”
A reception for the exhibit was held at the gallery on Friday attended by “Pride 1983” organizers and Rutland’s local Pride organization, Rutland County Pride.
“(Really), 1983 was not that long ago, even though it kind of feels that long ago. (So) much has changed in relation to LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance, yet how tenuous that still feels at times, despite all that,” Kolovos said. “An exhibit like this gives us an opportunity to look back at where we are now relative to where we were and use that as a guidepost. I think that’s important because we can’t take for granted where we are.”
The “Pride 1983” exhibit can be viewed at www.vtfolklife.org/pride-intro online.