Steven Arnold's Sex & Spirit Symposium

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, an immersive installation of Zanzabar—the home studio of the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA)—currently on view at Del Vaz Projects. With a keynote by Jarrett Earnest followed by four panels, the program frames Steven Arnold’s life as a departure point for conversations about how queer sensibilities—often eclectic, self-directed, and defying categorization—have shaped creative, cultural, and activist movements over the last century. 

Highlighting Los Angeles as fertile ground for radical and mystical world-building, participants including artists, writers, curators, and cultural workers explore queer lives, spaces, and scenes as expressed through biography, nightlife, aesthetics, spirituality, and preservation. Reflecting on Arnold’s expansive universe in the aftermath of the AIDS crisis, and in the face of institutionalized ignorance, this symposium emphasizes the urgency of celebrating and safeguarding queer archives such as Arnold’s—one among a vast legacy of artists whose lives were lost to AIDS—with the greatest sensitivity and authenticity.

All proceeds from ticket sales go directly towards supporting the Steven Arnold Archive

For more information on the program, contact info@delvazprojects.com

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein. Del Vaz Projects' exhibitions, publications, and programs are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture. 

Image Credit: Steven Arnold, 1971 (Photo: Scott Runyon). © One Archives at the USC Libraries.