Gallery5 is now accepting submissions for Queer Joy, opening First Friday, August 1st 2025.

“Unprecedented times” is the phrase we hear so often these days. We hear it amidst the rise of discriminatory practices, hateful language, and state-sanctioned prejudice. These are real concerns, affecting real lives, including (but not limited to) queer lives. We also see both queer and non-queer individuals rising against these types of actions. Risking very real consequences to say “this is not right” and “this is not the society we want to live in.” We are inspired by these persons, motivated by them, and humbled by them.

And yet, we wonder – what role does queer joy play in this resistance? What role does queer joy play in dreaming of a different future than the reality we currently know? And also – can we just F-ing celebrate queer joy sometimes?? In a day and age as fraught as this one, Gallery5 wants to provide space with this exhibition to be bold, bright, brash, and beautiful; to celebrate queer identity, authenticity, and self-hood. We want to welcome and accept queer individuals, because of the beauty, power, and generative energy that is the queer community in Richmond.

Another way to say this is that like all groups marginalized by those in power, queer identities are not simply defined by their struggles. They are also defined by how they choose to define themselves, including their joy in their identities and lives. We believe that joy is integral to resilience and bright futures - of queer individuals, and of the communities that include them. Resilience is nothing without the ability to revel in what it means to be who we are as humans – and in this case, queer humans. 

We invite submissions of artwork for this exhibition that respond to these ideas – to the concept of “queer joy” and thoughts about how it functions in society and in queer communities, as well as celebrations of it and explorations related to it.