Special Event Highlighting “MARGINALIA” Exhibit featuring
Queer and Trans-identifying Arts Workers 25/8 artspace
2 Linden Street, Harvard Square
Saturday, June 22nd
3pm – 7pm
The Harvard Square Business Association, in partnership with Intercontinental Management, is pleased to announce “MARGINALIA”, the latest installation at the 25/8 artspace project located at 2 Linden Street in Harvard Square.
Behind VA Shadows’ group exhibition, MARGINALIA will be on view until June 22nd. Guest-curated by [Working Title] and Patrick Brennan, the exhibition showcases artworks by queer/trans-identifying arts workers including Davit Botch, Patrick Brennan, Kenn Crestwell, Bugworld, Jack Gruman, Emma Hartl, Janella Mele, Jack Poole, Bill Restivo, Solon Perry, Jack Poole, Danielle Richard, O Staples, and Z Watts. “MARGINALIA” stems from marginal notes and embellishments in medieval books and extends to the nonessential items in our daily lives; the exhibition brings forth a group of artists whose works reflect on this shared commonality between non-utilitarian objects and identity formation. Through a rich array of media, MARGINALIA provides a queer lens in investigating everyday objects.
On Saturday, June 22nd, the curators of the event will host a Solstice Weekend Art & Performance Block Party from 3-7pm on Saturday 6/22 in celebration of MARGINALIA. This free event will feature The Croaks, the musical project of Anna Reidister and Haley Wood, performing from 3pm – 4pm. Characterized by their epic narratives, slippery riffs and serpentine arrangements, The Croaks deliver merriment and mischief in the form of freak folk-prog to the Boston area. The Croaks are Anna Reidister, Haley Wood, Alli Raina, and Denver Nuckolls. Enjoy music, an open mic and an artmaking circle in front the exhibition. Come create, listen, look & share!
Denise Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, commented, “The HSBA is pleased to continue our ongoing collaboration with Intercontinental Management and Yolanda He Yang, the latest of which highlights queer artists during Pride Month. We are grateful for community partners, like Intercontinental, who recognize the value of local artists, welcoming them to share their gifts, thereby enhancing the pedestrian experience in the Square.”
While you are in the Square, visit the following businesses who are hosting in-store promotions for Pride Month:
Blackbird Doughnuts
We have several fun pride offerings available all month for pre-order through our website, including a rainbow cake, 6-pack of rainbow doughnuts, and PRIDE letter doughnuts!
We will also have rainbow pride doughnuts available on the weekends for the month of June and 50% of those doughnut sales will be donated to Fenway Health.
The COOP
The Coop has a table display of books of interest for Pride Month.
Forty Winks
On Wednesday June 19th (Juneteenth), we are donating 15% of our profits to the Theater Offensive, a Boston Based theater company that presents liberating art by, for and about queer and trans people of color.
Hubba Hubba
This Pride month, visit the oldest alternative store in New England. Always woman-owned (and currently also queer-owned), Hubba Hubba has been a part of Harvard Square (and Central) since 1978-79. Outfit yourself for the parade, the party, or going to P-town!
We offer the gamut from a curated collection of goods for sexual health to lingerie, corsets, and clothing suitable for everyone and every body. Purchases over $100 receive our famous tote bag (or may be purchased for $15 with proceeds donated to the American Civil Liberties Union/ACLU).
Open Monday through Thursday from noon to 7pm; Friday through Saturday from noon to 9pm; and Sunday from 1-6pm.
Life Alive
Celebrate Pride month at Life Alive with the Rainbow Love Acai!
This June, try the limited-time Rainbow Love Acai Bowl and enjoy our signature acai with a rainbow of vibrant strawberry, mango, kiwi, blueberry and hemp seeds.
$1 from each bowl will be donated to Trans Resistance MA, a local nonprofit transgender advocacy organization that advocates for the safety, joy and liberation of trans, queer, black and indigenous people of color.
Off the Beaten Path Food Tours
Please use code PRIDE2024 for 10% off our Harvard Square Donut Tour, runs Sundays!
Shake Shack
Shake Shack’s mission has always been to Stand for Something Good. Shake Shack and PFLAG National are proud to once again team up for the Sprinkled with Pride campaign. During the month of June, add sprinkles to any shake for 50 cents and support PFLAG National
Union Square Donuts
During Pride Month we have the following donut specials through 6/30!
Rainbow Vanilla Bean – Taste the rainbow! Enjoy our classic Vanilla Bean glazed donut covered in a bright rainbow drizzle! Celebrate Pride Month with a dozen rainbow vanilla bean donuts.
Pride Confetti Sprinkles – Happy Pride Month! This June we are celebrating Pride Month with our dark chocolate glazed donuts decorated with rainbow confetti “Pride” sprinkles!
Vegan Vanilla Pride Sprinkles – The whole month of June… Enjoy a Vegan Vanilla glazed donut covered in colorful Pride confetti sprinkles! Happy Pride!
*A portion of the proceeds from our Rainbow Vanilla Bean & Pride Sprinkle Donuts will be donated to BAGLY, The Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth. BAGLY is a local organization committed to social justice and creating programs, policies and services for the LGBTQ+ youth community
Veggie Grill
Veggie Grill Harvard Square – We Proudly Support
We celebrate diversity and equality every day, so to set this month apart, our local teams have each selected LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations for us to support! More details on our website.
We’re also celebrating all month long with our Banana-licious Celebration Cake! Sweet and fluffy organic banana cake topped with cream cheese frosting and rainbow celebration sprinkles. $5.95 | 550 calories | 7g protein | (Gluten Free. Contains: soy, almond, coconut.)
More about MARGINALIA:
[Working Title] is a Boston-based queer literary and performance series that provides a platform for emerging artists and writers to share their works at different pop-up occasions in the Boston area. In this exhibition, L Scully and Zofia Provizer from [Working Title] collaborate with Brennan, an early organizer of Behind VA Shadows. Informed by the conceptual framework of queerness, the exhibition seeks to bring together diverse forms of art. MARGINALIA is a collective effort of revealing the vibrant and talented queer community in the Boston art scene.Inspired by the corridor-like gallery space, MARGINALIA unfolds its narrative by filling an empty space with nonessential things and, in turn, occupying the space with their marginality. The entrance welcomes viewers with untitled, a pair of glittered boots, by Watts; along with Hartl’s Horse Shoe Crab Shoe, the function of shoes is deployed and pedestaled yet alluding to a domestic environment.
As viewers progress to the following space, the exhibition morphs into a cozy living room setting: Gruman’s video work project through TV screens, while Mele and Botch’s works take up the wall space in a decorative salon style.
Entering into the last window, a sense of intimacy permeates. Brennan’s sculpture work consists of a bookcase in which found objects once regarded as trash are merged to create new meanings, a deeply personal form of journaling documentation. In Lean, Richard constructs a new table structure with twisted legs; through the intervention, the table is precariously balanced on the pedestal, animating a non-conventional form. Perry’s untitled further subverts the relationship between the urinal and the body and, at the same time, illuminates the regulating power relation. The exhibition becomes a process of turning what is seemingly misplaced into an intentional way of resisting by the marginal subjects.
Taking up space with nonessential objects in a gallery space serves as an allegory to the queer experiences of navigating through different realms of life. As indicated by the curators, the exhibition is an invitation for the artists to express and imagine themselves without boundaries. The exhibition will conclude with a block party on June 22, 2024, to present a series of performance and artmaking activities, seeking to engage with the public on multiple levels.