The Pride Portraits

The month of June marks a special pride month as it is the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when gays and lesbians fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted homosexuals, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.


The Pride Portraits is a series of 7 paintings that helped lead up to and past that defining moment in 1969. These are people whose unique courage and foresight have influenced not just how I view my world but how the world views me.



Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon
diptych Nancy VanReece
Acrylic and ink
© 2009 Contemporary Expression, a div. of Carpe Diem Copyright Management
Inspired by photograph from the archives of the San Francisco Chronicle

To read more about these works visit: http://www.nancyvanreece.com/prideportraits.htm

A reception will be help by Nashville Pride on Tuesday June 9th, 2009 from 5:30-7pm at Ugly Mugs where these 7 works and others will be on display through out the month.

The works are also committed for display at the K. C. Potter House on the campus of Vanderbilt University in October for LGBT History month.