A Picture Is a Word: The Posters of Rex Ray
The GLBT History Museum, San Francisco
2019
“A Picture is a Word: The Posters of Rex Ray” surveys the graphic works of San Francisco artist and designer Rex Ray (1956–2015). Curated by Cydney Payton and Amy Scholder.
Brian Weil, 1979-95: Being in the World
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
2015
The Hammer, in collaboration with the Santa Monica Museum of Art and its presentation of “Brian Weil, 1979–95: Being in the World,” hosts a series of programs curated by Amy Scholder exploring the invisible communities that the extraordinary photographer sought to illuminate in his photographs. Events include screenings of How to Shoot A Crime (Sylvere Lotringer & Chris Kraus) and Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger (Sam Feder); and conversations “We Have Never Been Queer” with Jack Halberstam and Maggie Nelson; and “How to Change the World” with Tony Valenzuela, Tiny aka Lisa Gray-Garcia, and Shoshanna Scholar.
Valerie Lives!: A Public Discussion of Feminist Rage
New York University
2014
A conversation about Valerie Solanas with Avital Ronell, Karen Finley, Lisa Duggan, and Breanne Fahs, author of the new biography Valerie Solanas.
Too drastic, too crazy, too “out there,” too early, too late, too damaged, too much—Valerie Solanas has been dismissed but never forgotten. Known for shooting Andy Warhol in 1968 and for writing the polemical diatribe SCUM Manifesto, Solanas is one of the most famous women of her era. SCUM Manifesto—which predicted ATMs, test-tube babies, the internet, and artificial insemination long before they existed—has sold more copies, and has been translated into more languages, than nearly all other feminist texts of its time. Yet, shockingly little work has interrogated Solanas’s life.
Lust for Life: The Life and Writings of Kathy Acker
Fales Library, New York University
2002
A Symposium organized by Amy Scholder, Avital Ronell, and Carla Harryman.
Five years after her passing, scholars, writers, performers, and artists gather to discuss the work and influence of Kathy Acker. Featuring readings by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Richard Foreman, Diamanda Galas, Kim Gordon, Kathleen Hanna, Rick Moody, Sapphire. And presentations by Peter Wollen, Leslie Dick, Jack Halberstam, Nayland Blake, Carolee Schneemann, Matias Viegener, Lynne Tillman, Sarah Schulman, David Antin.
OutWrite: The First National Lesbian and Gay Writers Conference
San Francisco
1990, 1991, 1992
I was part of a small planning committee including Dorothy Allison, Bo Huston, Kevin Killian, Richard LaBonte, Jeffrey Escoffier, Alex Chee, and others.
The 2-day event, which was organized by this group for three years, brought together writers, publishers, editors, agents, and other publishing professionals to discuss artistic and practical issues confronting writers and the queer community.
Featured speakers included Allen Ginsberg, Judy Grahn, Edward Albee, Kate Millett, Essex Hemphill, Dorothy Allison, Chyrstos, Cheryl Clarke, Cherrie Moraga, Melvin Dixon, Sarah Schulman, Urvashi Vaid, David Wojnarowicz, Sapphire, Assoto Saint.