Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:30 –9 pm Main Gallery and Emeritus Conference Room Event Image Music by B8 (Beau Tate) In collaboration with MCAD students, visiting artist AK Garski is throwing a Gender Re-Reveal Party. This party is a social practice artwork that reveals how traditional gender reveal parties promote the view that there are only two genders, which are based on biology and remain fixed throughout a person’s life. This Gender Re-Reveal Party celebrates gender fluidity and rejoices in a wide range of gender expressions. The party will include special decorations, games, music, prizes, a takeaway artwork, and, of course, cake. There will be an opportunity for community dialogue on the topic of gender fluidity, including a Q&A session with a panel of student leaders, followed by a discussion. The party will conclude with a balloon drop in the Main Gallery. This event is free and open to the public. ABOUT THE ARTIST This project is inspired by Garski’s large-scale observational painting It’s A Girl, a piece that depicts the balloon that was given to their mother by the hospital when they were born. Garski displays this piece when they are asked to participate in group shows that are cis-gender women-focused as a way to reclaim space as a non-binary artist. This artwork is currently on display in the MCAD exhibition With, Through, and Beyond: Visiting Artists Celebrate 20 Years of the Women's Art Institute, a program Garski began co-teaching as a woman and continues to be involved in as a person who is publically non-binary. In the fall of 2018, Garski collaborated with Dr. Cecilia Konchar Farr’s Literature and Gender Non-Conformity class at St. Catherine University to plan a private party that celebrated trans, non-binary, gender-nonconforming, and LGBTQIA+ students while engaging guests in thoughtful dialogue about gender. The traditions associated with cis-normative gender reveal parties (such as blue and pink decorations, cake-cutting, and balloon drops) were questioned and reimagined specifically for the celebration of gender non-conforming individuals. Garski has collaborated this fall with MCAD students to organize a public celebration. Over the course of several weeks, Garski has worked closely with MCAD Professor Genevieve DeLeon’s Storytelling: Narrative Studio class and Quellective, the student-run LGBTQIA+ organization on campus, and has held public decoration making sessions for all students interested in participating in their project. This iteration of Garski’s Gender Re-Reveal Party is the culmination of their collaboration with these students.