WEST HOLLYWOOD – Each year the City of West Hollywood celebrates Pride with its One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival, which runs from Harvey Milk Day (May 22) through the end of June Pride month.
The City of West Hollywood’s Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath officially declared May 23 as “Born This Way Day” in honor of the album of the same name by Lady Gaga in a small ceremony in front of The Abbey Sunday, also kicking off the City’s One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival.
To commemorate and recognize its cultural impact, the City of West Hollywood is celebrating with a street painting on Robertson Blvd dedicated to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” which celebrates its 10 year anniversary this year. The album shattered records around the world in sales and streaming and has had significant cultural impact as a quasi-anthem for LGBTQ people around the globe.
A crowd had gathered in front of the Abbey to witness Mayor Horvath, other city officials, and the owner of the Abbey, David Cooley greet Lady Gaga as she looked over the street painting. Mayor Horvath also presented a Key to the City to Lady Gaga Sunday with a note of thanks: “Thank you for encouraging us to love ourselves and be proud!
Photograph: Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath hugging Lady Gaga as the Abbey owner David Cooley looks on in the background. (Photo courtesy of Mayor Horvath)
When it was originally released in 2011, Born This Way shattered records around the world. To date, the album has more than 5.8 billion global streams, 5.2 million physical albums sold, and 31 million digital tracks sold. Born This Way was Lady Gaga’s first #1 album and it debuted at #1 in 25 countries. It was named one of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and is Certified 4X Platinum in the U.S.
Concurrent with the unveiling of the colorful street painting is the kickoff of Pride season in West Hollywood with the annual One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival. The 2021 theme for One City One Pride is For the Record – LGBTQ stories of the past that have often been hidden or undocumented. One must read between the lines to find stories hidden behind “beard” marriages, coded language, and erased or destroyed evidence. This year, One City One Pride looks at some of these previously hidden stories.
In order to prioritize health and well-being, One City One Pride 2021 is taking place virtually/in a socially distant manner for 2021.
A partial list of some of the upcoming events and programs for the 2021 One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival includes;
Sat, May 22, 20215:30 PM Wed, Jun 30, 202110:30 PM, presented by Rogue Artists Ensemble.
Free. No RSVP Needed. Experience online or as a self-guided experience at Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90046
Rogue Artists Ensemble’s Love Note is a free, interactive, solo audio expedition of your heart, taking place in West Hollywood’s Plummer Park, where audience members can activate sonic narrative experiences at eight unique stops throughout the park. Using only your cell phone and headphones, you’ll discover and listen to stories about romance, compassion, and connection, leading to a secret phone line, where you are invited to share your own love story that will become part of the project’s archive. The community-contributed stories recorded during the run will be then woven back into the experience to create an ever-evolving tapestry of voices calling out for love and belonging.
Love Note is a collaborative creation exploring the transcendence of love beyond identity, boundaries, and definitions. Significant contributions and performances are contributed by members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Sat, May 22, 2021 6:30 PM till Thu, Jun 30, 2021 7:30 PM
Outdoor exhibition on traffic median at Santa Monica Blvd. and Doheny Drive
Meringue is a temporary public art exhibition by LGBTQ artist Kim Kiduck. Meringue’s sensual curves invite touch, and the artist intends it to feel like a portal to travel without moving—that you travel when you come in contact with it, not physically, but in the imagination. The translucency of Meringue lets sunlight in to glow naturally during the daytime, and at night transforms Meringue into a mixing chamber of various light combinations. The exhibition will be lit up in rainbow colors for the duration of the City’s One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival.
Fri, Jun 4, 20216:00 AM till Wed, Jun 30, 202111:59 PM
Presented by ONE Archives Foundation
Outdoor temporary art exhibition on the construction fence at 687 Robertson Boulevard and other sites in the Los Angeles region.
ONE Archives Foundation presents “Pride Publics: Words and Actions,” a multi-site outdoor exhibition that examines the intersection between pride and publicness and examines themes central to queer public life while highlighting trailblazers and their visions. With free and accessible outdoor installations plus a digital guide, this exhibition aims to give visibility to LGBTQ life in the public through the lens of history, community, and activism.
This exhibition is curated by Rubén Esparza, a multidisciplinary artist, activist, and independent curator based in Los Angeles. Installations will be on view for the months of June (West Hollywood) and October (Los Angeles County) in 2021.
“Pride Publics: Words and Actions” provokes questions central to queer public life: Who have been the LGBTQ movement leaders and trailblazers? What have they said? What have they done to advance the wellbeing of LGBTQ community? What key moments of change that have contributed to the public health, safety, education, rights, identity, and social belonging of queer life.
This exhibition is organized by ONE Archives Foundation. This program is supported by the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division as part of the City’s One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival.
You can view all 2021 events as a list here. Follow at www.facebook.com/wehopride or www.instagram.com/wehoarts to stay up to date.
One City One Pride is organized by the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division. If you have additional questions about One City One Pride please email Mike Che, One City One Pride coordinator/City of West Hollywood’s Arts Coordinator at [email protected]
