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February 02, 2026

The goal of the Black Queer Grits Exhibition is to highlight the power of arts-based methods for reflection, self-expression, and collective healing. In addition, it offers counternarratives to ongoing anti-Southern, anti-Black, and anti-queer rhetoric. This exhibition is essential because it was created by Richmond community members for the Richmond community and the broader Southern region. Overall, this exhibition and included works are a testament to Southern Black queer creativity, resilience, and collective care.
We’re currently accepting works that connect to one or more of the following themes. As a note the descriptions below are a non-exhaustive overview:
  • Race, gender, & sexuality: How race, gender, and sexuality intersect in the lived experiences of Southern Black queer women, focusing on the nuances of navigating these identities.
  • Familial relationships: Explored themes of acceptance, rejection, and the negotiation of identity within biological and chosen families.  
  • Spirituality & religiosity: How SBQ femmes navigate considerations of faith. Explored the tension between Southern religious norms and personal spirituality. Showcased how they reconcile or resist traditional beliefs and find spiritual healing.  
  • Gender expansion + gender roles: Explored the pressures to conform to societal expectations and the ways participants resist or redefine these roles. Photos emphasized the experience of liberation and self-expression beyond traditional gender boundaries.
  • Sexuality + intimacy: How SBQ femmes experience and express their sexuality and intimacy. Highlighted personal and collective ways of redefining intimacy.
  • Joy + resistance: Celebrated the joy, resistance, and resilience of SBQ femme. Showed the ways they find strength in their identities, resist oppression, and create spaces for happiness and fulfillment. 

You may submit up to 3 works—visual, kinetic, and textual to be reviewed by a small panel of Black Queer femmes. Curation will seek to represent a diverse range of voices representing different parts of the Southern experience. Some works may be excluded due to space, technical limitations, or adherence to the show’s theme. We are unable to accept works that require tech (i.e., video, music). Pieces featuring the use of AI will not be considered.

Please make sure that all fields are properly filled out before you submit. Artists must be able to drop off and hang their work in person at Atlas Gallery, 114 W Marshall St between March 23 and 26.

The exhibition will open on Friday, March 27 and run through Friday, April 17. There will be a First Friday reception on April 3. 

Apply: https://bit.ly/4q1MBXr

Please email Chandler Golden, blackqueergrits@gmail.com, if you have any questions about the application or the selection process.

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