By Katie Lauriello, Lead Copy Editor
On Thursday, the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC) hosted a reception and presentation for various art and poetry pieces submitted to the Our Voices program. Various snacks and drinks were served as part of the reception.
Each piece was displayed on the wall of the GSRC, backed by colored construction paper and decorated with pressed flowers.
According to Oz Eveland ’24, the Our Voices program originated from the Vagina Monologues, a classic program that ran for several decades before it was reimagined into Our Voices. As opposed to previous years, which separated art and poetry into two separate categories, this year’s program combined them into one universal artistic platform. Eveland explained that such a combination makes the program more inclusive by factoring in different ways for people to express themselves.
Eveland’s submission was a self-portrait called “Surrender,” which depicts their nude torso and hands covering their chest. The left hand of the figure also holds a white flag that trails behind them. Eveland was originally inspired by Baroque portraiture of mythical figures they saw in the National Gallery.
“The gender of those figures is so good to me,” Eveland said. “I wanted to paint myself in a way that felt like that. And ‘Surrender’ is like the white flag. It’s this idea of surrender and acceptance of your body and the trans experience, and there are certain things you can’t control.”
Many of the poetry submissions were read to the group. The first poem responded to an argument against people who believe that archaeologists can observe and assign what sex someone “really is.”
The second poem was called “Skeleton.” The speaker reflected on a lover who only had fond feelings for them when the speaker was extremely thin, skeletal and docile, according to the author.
Another poem, written by Nate Schneller ’24, was called “The Garden.” The poem explores the speaker’s relationship with their gender using nature. The idea came as a flash of inspiration while Schneller was in the Health Center. Having submitted work to Our Voices before, Schneller thought that this poem was a good fit for the subject matter.
“As a writer, you do like people to look at your work every once in a while, especially if it’s something you yourself are fond of,” said Schneller.
Jakob Terkei ’24 also submitted a collection of four short poems reflecting his experience of being transgender.
“Due to various circumstances, I’ve been able to direct my emotions in a more productive way so I can tell what I’m feeling more. I’ve never really done poetry before, but this has been a nice opportunity for me to project what I’m feeling instead of holding it,” said Terkei.
Terkei shared that submitting his collection is about “me trying to express myself again.”
“I’ve always found the GSRC very welcoming,” Terkei said. “I have not had much of a place to talk about gender and sexuality beyond the few friends I had after living in Q House last year.”
Each submission will remain on the walls of the GSRC until March 29.
