The Founders

Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman
(ancient friend by Marion Pinto)

Click here to see the gallery.

THE QUEER AESTHETIC has always enlivened the visual arts, theater, dance, film, design, fashion and advertising. Yet much of the creative output by gay men and women has been largely unacknowledged. Work that displays an unambiguously queer sensibility has been, and often still is, denied access to mainstream venues.

For five decades, the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation has played a pioneering role in celebrating the accomplishments of gay artists. Over that time, we have provided a place for artists who speak directly to gay and lesbian sensibilities, offering special support for emerging and underrepresented artists. We are passionately involved in the vital task of locating, rescuing and preserving art that might otherwise be destroyed or hidden from public view. Our mission is to embrace this rich creative history by informing, inspiring, entertaining and challenging all who enter our doors.

Welcome.

— Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman

MISSION STATEMENT

The Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation is a public non-profit foundation established in 1990 to provide an outlet for art work that is unambiguously gay and which is frequently denied access to mainstream venues. The Foundation's Leslie/Lohman Gallery mounts exhibitions of work in all media by gay and lesbian artists with an emphasis on subject matter that speaks directly to gay and lesbian sensibilities, including, erotic, political, romantic, and social imagery and providing special support for emerging and underrepresented artists.

It's programs include regularly scheduled exhibitions, video events, workshop presentations of plays, a slide registry, artists' and curator's talks, panel discussions, a quarterly journal, a membership program, an archive, a website, and a permanent collection of art.

Board of Directors
Charles W. Leslie, Chairman
J. Frederic Lohman, ASID
Jonathan D. Katz
Thomas Knapp
Phil Rubin
Charles Vozzi

Erica Bell, Esq., Legal Counsel

Advisory Committee
Anna Canepa, Co-chair
David Jarrett, Co-chair
Lowell Detweiler
Steve Greco
Daniel Kitchen
Norman Laurila
Nicholas McCausland
Sonia Melara
Marion Pinto
Robert W. Richards
James Saslow
Norbert Sinski
Victor Trivero
Douglas Turnbaugh
Peter Weiermair

WELCOME TO THE LESLIE/LOHMAN GAY ART FOUNDATION's World Wide Web Site. The Foundation is named in honor of our two founders Fritz Lohman and Charles Leslie. We are a unique non-profit arts cultural institution established in 1990 to be a safe haven for that art which is often excluded from main stream exhibitions and textbooks and looked upon as taboo or less than important or embrassing by historians and critics. Indeed, some even try to deny its existence! 

That is slowly changing. Mainly because of places like Leslie/Lohman and a new breed of artist who want to reclaim their own. It is a difficult project — to retrace the thread of gay and lesbian art throughout history — but it has begun. We at Leslie/Lohman are doing our part by seeking out those artists who exhibit the knowledge, desire and skills to achieve a recognition that gay and lesbian art exists not in a vacuum but as an integral part of art history. 

The Foundation houses a sizable permanent collection, begun by the Founders, and continued through contributions and donations of concerned citizens who want their collections preserved intact and protected from an ignoble end. Now through the medium of the World Wide Web we are empowered to reach out as we never could before from New York City to the world. The walls are down, literally, and our reach and impact are greater and more effective than ever before. 

We welcome and encourage you to contact us with any information you may have about gay and lesbian artists anywhere in the world, past or present. We are continually collecting new information and discovering art that no one outside a few close friends knew about. Likewise, we are continually surprised and encouraged by the quality of that work. And when we can exhibit that work in the galleries or on the web it is to an appreciative audience who are hungry for positive confirmation of our place in history. 

You are cordially invited to view our membership page and consider becoming a “Friend of Leslie/Lohman.” Your comments, suggestions and referrals are encouraged and always welcome. We are very glad you found us on the World Wide Web and if you are ever in New York City please stop by to visit the galleries. 

Thank you for visiting The Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation's website. 

Staff
Charles W. Leslie, Executive Director, Chief Curator, Exhibition/Review Committee

Wayne Snellen, Director of Collections
Director of the Archives, Director of Internet Services, Associate Curator, Exhibition/Review Committee

Rob Hugh Rosen, Director of Operations, Director of Volunteers, Associate Curator, Exhibition/Review Committee

Scott Runyon, Director of Development and Communications

Nathaniel Siegel, Administrative Assistant and Membership Coordinator

Tom Saettel, Director of Publications
Editor, The Archive

Jay Boda, Office assistant

Victor Trivero, Facilities Engineer

___________________________________

Rob Hugh Rosen & Harvey Redding, Co-Directors of the Queer Men's Erotic Art Workshop

Thank you,

First and foremost we want to thank our two founders, Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman — they are real heros in the fight for recognization of the validity and vitality of gay art through the ages — without their foresight and committment none of this would be possible. Also to their friends who encouraged them in those early days (before 1990) when they thought it was impossible to set up such an organization. 

Second, special thanks to following for their financial support:

The John Burton Harter Charitable Trust for continuing their support of the newsletter, The Archive, and other special projects.

We also, especially thank Jack Slomovits and Sean Meriwether of Blowsquish for hosting this website free of charge — THANKS GUYS. 

Third, the exhibitions and programs of the Foundation would not be possible without the support of a small but dedicated group of volunteers. We are especially grateful to Tai Lin, James Pritchard, Joe Anderson, Rob Hugh Rosen, Robert W. Richards, Richard Foster, Howard Maloney, Julie Schwartz, David Jarrett, Paul Pavese, Charles Vozzi, Bill DeNoyelles, Jared Kinon, Sue Wells, Tom Amador, Gregory Veve, Danny O’Connell, Harvey Redding, Henry Schivone, Ling He, Paul Man, Martin Gram, and Victor Trivero.

Fourth, to our Board of Directors and Advisory Committee for their untiring contributions. 

Additionally we would like to mention the following who have been supportive of LLGAF:

Blue Boy magazine (Dan Rios) 
Gay City News newspaper
Genre Magazine 
GO magazine
HX magazine 
Inches magazine (Jim Eigo)
Instinct magazine
LGNY newspaper 
Log-On Graphics (printing and mailing)
M The New York Gallery Guide
Next magazine 
NY Blade newspaper 
O’Connell Graphics (Ed & Ian) 
Phillip Marie Restauant
Rodnik Vodka
Soho Wines & Spirits 
TimeOut NY
Village Voice
Vice magazine 
WBAI radio (Nancy Curtin) 

Amos White V
Durk Dehner, The Tom of Finland Foundation 
Lou Maletta (Gay Cable Network, public access TV)
Michael Wakefield (It's A Wonderful Life, public access TV) 
Pet(e) Silva (The Malignant Muse, public access TV)