Gay Community Center of Richmond: Cultural and social programming, event and meeting space and Diversity Thrift serving Central Virginia Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender residents

The Gay Community Center is proud to present “Color!” at the GCCR Gallery,1407 Sherwood Avenue, 23220. This exciting exhibit features seven local talented artists. The show runs through May 4th.

Our relationship with color affects our memories, emotions and the way we communicate. It has the power to draw metaphors from personal experiences. It is something so emotionally charged, yet so common we do not think how it affects us.

Artists give reverence to color throughout time. Paul Gauguin once said, “Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the l language of dreams.” Artists use color to draw symbolism just as a novelist would, using written language. Color has been an integral part of communication and without it a universal language would be lost.

Each chosen artist communicates, using color in a specified was according to him or her, however as a group they form a community conversing in the language of color. Each artwork vibrates off of the other, creating a visual conversation. The art expresses its own personality through its presentation of color. As a group they represent their diversity, individualism and the celebration of artistic variations in a community.

Special thanks to several members of the art community who spent a better part of a recent Sunday installing the exhibit!

Airing Underwritten by Law Offices of Katie D. Fletcher, Esq.

”Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement,” a film about the couple whose relationship was an instigator in the present Supreme Court case of same-sex marriage, will air on Sunday, April 14th, 7:00 PM at Richmond Triangle Players, 1300 Altamont Avenue, Richmond, 23230. The event is being sponsored by SAGE, a program of the Richmond Gay Community Foundation. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted.

What began as two girls meeting at a party in New York in the 1960′s has become a major reason that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is now being debated by the Supreme Court of the United States.

After a 40-year engagement, Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer, were married in Canada in 2007. The couple resided in New York, a state that recognizes same-sex marriages from other localities. Two years later when Spyer died, Windsor was required to pay $363,000 in federal estate taxes on her inheritance from her life-partner. Federal law does not require different-sex marriages to pay such taxes.

The film is narrated by the couple while in their 70′s. They reminisce about their lives, their childhoods, how they met, their first vacation. The film has received numerous awards and won Best Documentary at Outfest in 2009.

Windsor noted in a recent statement that when she “met her partner nearly fifty years ago, they never dreamed their marriage would land before the Supreme Court as an example of why gay couples should be treated equally and not like second-class citizens,” noting that her now deceased life-partner would be proud, “The truth is I never expected any less from my country,” she added.

Following the movie, local attorney Katie D. Fletcher will discuss the Supreme Court case. The film showing is being underwritten by Law Offices of Katie D. Fletcher, Ltd. For more information, call 622-4646, ext. 20.

Over 35 professionals from the Richmond metro area met last Thursday at C’est La Vin wine shop in Shockoe Bottom during the Richmond Business Alliance’s March networking event. In the midst of an educational wine tasting, artfully crafted appetizers, and live jazz music, these LGBT and LGBT-friendly professionals spent over two hours talking about who they are, what they do, and why Richmond is a great place to do business.

The Richmond Business Alliance, a program of the Gay Community Center of Richmond, works to effectively incorporate the commercial, economic, and professional interests of the LGBT community with those of the greater Richmond business community at large.

Join the RBA for it’s April event at the Richmond SPCA and nearby Hardywood Brewery on April 18th!

More details can be found on their website at www.richmondbusinessalliance.com.

Spending time with Terry Eise is like being with an old friend, although maybe the two of you may have just met. His unassuming manner would never let you in on what talent the man possesses, but his work conveys it powerfully. While art is up for interpretation, emotion is truly felt while absorbing his latest exhibit, “Up Close and Personal.” And “absorb” is what one does. The eyes, the facial expressions…powerful feelings are captured, conveyed through paint, canvas and passion.

Ever since Eise was a high school freshman, he has known his calling. “I joined an art club in high school, participated in a show and have never really stopped,” he shared as he hung samples of his work that are being shown at the Gay Community Center of Richmond’s gallery. Thirty-seven expressions of his labors will be exhibited at GCCR from March 8th - April 12th.

An opening reception will launch the exhibit on Friday, March 8th, 7:00-9:00 p.m. The public is invited.

After attending Central Missouri State University, studying art foundation and commercial art, and serving with the Air Force in Vietnam, Eise became more involved in the fine arts and realized that was where his heart truly belonged. A friend later introduced him to Dick Carlyon, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor, who became his mentor and painting instructor. He studied under Carlyon for three years, with the pair ultimately opening a studio at 711 East Broad Street in downtown Richmond.

Artists who have heavily influenced him are the abstract expressionists Clyfford Still and Barnett Newman, along with Andy Warhol’s comic book elements and David Hockney’s sense of homoeroticism. “I combine the influences of others while keeping true to my own artistic instincts. That is the mission of all my paintings.”

Another major influence on his life and his work is his life-partner of 34 years, Barry Hill. The two met when both were employed at Thalhimers. “He always puts my best foot forward,” laughed Eise. “He is my best communicator.”

Eise has exhibited at Olde Towne Gallery in Alexandria, Eric Schinder Gallery in Richmond and Zone One Gallery in Ashville, North Carolina.

A portion of the show’s proceeds will go the Richmond Gay Community Foundation to cover the expense of operating a non-profit gallery. For information, call the Foundation at 622-4646, ext. 20 or email Bill.Harrison@LGBTRichmond.net.

The Gay Community Center if Richmond is proud to showcase the artistic works of Terry Eise. Join us for an opening reception on March 8, 2013 from 7:00-9:00 PM. The exhibition runs from March 8 through April 12.