Who are we?
Transgendered people and
those who love them sharing our respective visions of love and
relationship
Telling our stories through photos, snapshots, drawings, writings, letters, and
collages
Celebrating the unique gift we are to each other and those around
us.
BALM Goals: BALM was created to provide those in the transgendered community a greater sense of relatedness and an avenue of self-expression. The subject is our vision (whether actualized or not) of community, relationship and love. Much like a family scrapbook, the exhibit is a collection of snapshots, writings, drawings and collages created by transgendered people and those who love them. The purpose of the exhibit is to enhance understanding – understanding of ourselves and understanding among those in our lives - for out of understanding comes tolerance and appreciation. And out of appreciation comes a sense of relatedness.
BALM Exhibit: The BALM exhibit consists of a collection of 16x20" pieces both framed for local exhibition and digitized for viewing on-line. Anyone who considers themselves to be members of, related to or allied with those in the transgendered community (loosely defined as those falling outside the traditional male/female gender binary) can submit art pieces to be considered for the exhibit. Submitted pieces that are youth appropriate and consistent with the structure and intent of the project are framed and digitized at no expense to the participant. Pieces not used on the exhibit are not returned. The exhibit pieces are available for display upon request by schools, churches or GLBT-allied organizations within the Upper Midwest (shipping fees will apply outside the Twin Cities metro area). Those wishing to borrow all or portions of the exhibit for a school, community or church event can contact beingandlovingme@hotmail.com. Exhibit availability is dependent on other scheduled events.
An effort has been made to encourage both youth and adult participation and to make the exhibit accessible to the public. For example, the GLBT exhibit in the Hennepin County Government Center was viewed by thousands of people coming through the courthouse to renew their licenses, register to vote or to handle legal matters. As such it reached a wide, diverse segment of society. Past youth events and announcements through a number of email group lists and electronic newsletters have helped ensure an even age distribution among those submitting pieces to the collection. Currently the age range of participants is from 16 to 56.
BALM History: The project began as an simple idea inspired by a mom's love for her daughter (born male). With community support, her idea grew into several youth events at local shelters and safe zones and two larger showings at the Hennepin County Government Center and the University of Minnesota Lavender graduation (2006). From there, word of mouth and email spread word of the exhibit, garnering both additional exhibit pieces and requests to display the exhibit at community events. Since then, the pieces have been displayed at District 202 in Minneapolis; Face to Face in St Paul; Youth Link; Metro State University; Spirit of the Lake Church; Minneapolis chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); the Trans Health Coalition (2007 and 2008 Trans Health Fair); Faith, Family and Fairness Alliance (2008 health fair); the Jungle Theater (for the showing of "Normal" fall 2007) and Twin City's PRIDE for 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Contributors: Volunteers and a combination of private and corporate donations have made this work possible. Financial contributors have included Comcast, the UMN Queer Student Cultural Center, and the Gender Education Center as well as several private individuals. Non-monetary contributors have included District 202, Face to Face, GenderBLUR, Out For Equity, the Minneapolis Chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the UMN GLBT Office, Spirit of the Lake Church, TransVoice Chorus, Landmark Education and a host of volunteers. We thank you for sharing our vision!!