NORTHAMPTON — When local Northampton artist Kit Pedraza joined the Northampton Arts Council, one of the first things he brought up within the group was bringing more queer-centric events to the city.
Pedraza, a former Rhode Island resident who has lived in Northampton for a little over a year, got his wish after the rest of the Arts Council encouraged him to host one.
“I know personally that this town has really accepted me and my art, because I have art throughout the town here,” Pedraza said. “I felt like a sense of community, and I felt like I belonged, so I really wanted to give back to the queer community in this area because I found some really awesome people that I consider chosen family.”
With the help of others in the queer community, the first ever Queer Curiosities Outdoor Market is now born and will be conducted in the “Farmers Market” area between Thornes Marketplace and the garage on Oct. 12 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The event, hosted by Pedraza and The Majestic Saloon, will feature over 20 local LGBTQIA+ artists showcasing a broad range of work that people can purchase.
Pedraza added that the event will also have music from DJ Catchetona, who specializes in Latin and house music, and who has performed at The Majestic Saloon before.
“I want to bring a voice to a lot of different queer people here,” Pedraza said. “I really made a conscious effort to get like a lot of people from the BIPOC queer community, as well as other parts of the community.”
Another important aspect of the market is the raffle. According to Pedraza, each participating artist will donate a piece of their work to be raffled off, and then the money raised from that will be donated to Translate Gender, the collective-based, consensus-run nonprofit organization that centers trans and nonbinary youth as well as their families/caregivers by offering support, therapy, classes and other resources.
“It’s a beautiful thing to have them in the community and for them to be so readily available … especially since the trans community is unfortunately under fire nationally,” Pedraza said.
Funding for the outdoor market was secured thanks to the market’s sponsors, including the Downtown Northampton Association, Northampton Art Council, CopyCat Printing, The Majestic Saloon and Hampshire Pride. Pedraza said that Kayla Abney, owner of The Majestic Saloon, was especially crucial in helping conceive this event.
“The Majestic is such a prominent location for the queer community in Northampton, I value and respect [Abney] so much,” Pedraza said. “We want to have an art market strictly run by queer people, only queer artists, just queer art for queer people celebrating any type of queerness that a person may have.”
