Join QueerPunk SlamJunk and Contemporary Craft for a night of creative expression, poetry, storytelling, music, and more!

This open mic, in conjunction with Contemporary Craft’s latest exhibition SELF, explores concepts related to expectations of gender, and what type of interactions will hence follow in our lives, from the most mundane elements of self to the defining moments that make up our lives. The exhibition specifically highlights the work of artists matt lambert and Erika Diamond, who explore the breadth and confines of gender identity, connection, contact, and the body through wearable works of art.

Free, but registration is required.

*Masks and face coverings are required in order to participate in this event.*

QueerPunk SlamJunk (QPSJ) aims to provide spaces in the greater Pittsburgh area for queer people to build community and engage in the arts. The Queerpunk Slamjunk is QPSJ’s youth open mic series, available for queer youth ages 12-25 to perform poetry, music, and other arts in a safe space run by and for peers.

QPSJ Community Agreements

1) Treat everyone in this space as an equal. Whether this is your first event, you’ve been coming for years, or you’re volunteering, everyone has the same say in what we do and how we do it.

2) In a lot of queer spaces, white, older, wealthier, and/or non-disabled people get more of a voice than everyone else. Pay attention to who gets to talk and how much. When someone is being talked over, actively make space for them to be heard.

3) Respect everyone’s expressed identities. Use the words other people want to refer to them — for example, words about their race, gender, class, ability, etc. This is not a space for arguments about people’s identities.

4) Ask before offering critique. Some people want constructive criticism on their art, some people just want support.

5) Make your best effort to resolve conflicts with decency. If something can’t be resolved or you would feel safer having someone else help resolve it, the volunteer mediators for this event are: [mediators volunteer on an event-by-event basis, point to them]