Funding for COLORES was provided in part by: Frederick Hammersley Fund, New Mexico PBS Great Southwestern Arts & Education Endowment Fund, and the Nellita E. Walker Fund for KNME-TV at the Albuquerque Community Foundation... ...New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts... and Viewers Like You.

WALTER COOPER'S MEMOIR "UNBUTTONED" REVEALS THE IMPACT THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY HAD ON SANTA FE'S ART SCENE FROM THE 70'S THROUGH THE 90'S.

THE COLUMBUS PRIDE BANDS IS A VIBRANT LGBTQ+ INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY WHERE MUSIC UPLIFTS SPIRITS AND FOSTERS A SENSE OF BELONGING FOR ALL.

FUELED BY HIS LOVE FOR PEOPLE, JEREMY ROSARIO USES HIS ART TO GIVE HOPE TO THOSE FACING HARDSHIPS.

THE CITY DIFFERENT >>Faith: So Walter, your book Unbuttoned offers an insightful glimpse into the LGBTQ community of Santa Fe in the seventies and eighties.

Can you tell me what motivated you to document this particular aspect of Santa Fe's history?

>>Walter: There was a big transition in Santa Fe and Santa Fe went from a small art colony to this rather international art center, which we have today.

It was my feeling that a lot of the people that were here during that period were gay people, and yet their story had never been told.

So I thought, well, I know these folks because I'm one of them, and I had the benefit of moving here when some of the old guard, who were so interesting, we're still here, and I was invited to their homes and parties and gallery openings and stuff.

And then as they begin to pass on, there was no record.

Nobody, there had been books about gay people prior to this time period, but not, you know, not during my time, and I just thought I should try and record some of these stories and some of the happenings that made this time unique.

>>Faith: Well, how did your personal experiences shape the narrative of this book?

>>Walter: Well, let's see.

After college, I went to New York.

I got a job as an advertising copywriter with a big agency, Jay Walter Thompson.

It was quite famous in those days.

This was in the sixties, and I met a lot of people.

I wasn't out yet because it wasn't good to be working for a company.

You could be fired and you could be, it was a problem.

So after 10 years in New York, I just thought, I'm tired of advertising.

I want to see if I can make a life as an artist.

So at that time, my aunt and uncle lived in Santa Fe, so I went for a week's visit and I was very impressed with the scenery and everything about it, of course, and to thank my aunt and uncle for hosting me.

I went, I took them to the compound for lunch and we were sitting around the table and I noticed in the room there were several tables of young men, two at a table talking to each other with colored sweaters loosely wrapped around their neck, engaged in conversation and a few women here and there in Birkenstocks, and I thought, ah, I think maybe I could live here.

This looks promising.

>>Faith: How do you believe the LGBTQ community has influenced the cultural landscape of Santa Fe?

>>Walter: Santa Fe had a reputation outside of the town on both coasts particularly, and word got out amongst certain folks that there was this little funny little town in the southwest that you could get to by train and Route 66, but it was out of the way.

It was very small, it was very friendly, it was beautiful, and people heard about it and they also heard that it attracted a lot of very unusual people, people that weren't necessarily comfortable in the towns or cities they grew up in.

And they had an openness to young people and new arrivals, and so their dinner parties would include old with young, rich with poor, gay with straight, married with single.

It was a rich cultural stew, and it was so interesting.

There wasn't a lot of judgment.

Maybe it was because of the three cultures that lived here.

Maybe it was because it was a way in the west that wasn't greatly influenced by big cities on either coast.

It's hard to say, but it was unique.

There were other art towns that had a lot of gay and lesbian artists who lived there like Provincetown and Key West and some on the west coast, but Santa Fe was a city.

It was a year round place to live.

It had resources, it had a beautiful landscape, and you could ski in the winter and hike in the summer.

It had a lot going for it.

That made it unique, and I think it's a lot easier now because there are groups that are very supportive.

Back when I was a teenager, it was very difficult.

There were just, I mean, I couldn't talk to anybody, not my family, not my college friends.

Even in New York in advertising, although there were a lot of gay people I was aware of, we didn't talk about it.

It was a taboo subject until Stonewall happened and then things began to break open, but Santa Fe broke open long before that.

There were all kinds of costume parties and parades and interesting writers, poets, painters, potters, the opera people.

You know things were happening here and it was a very exciting place to live.

As I remember, in my chilled age, I never set out to have a career as much as I set out to have a life, to embrace the beauty and pleasure of the world, to explore my deepest nature and shed some of the ballast that weighed me down.

To live openly in a community of congenial spirits and to make that life more visible, to do the work I love to do and to live more truthfully.

I could scarcely ask for more.

Santa Fe was and remains a welcoming oasis of tolerance and creativity for dreamers and seekers like myself and for all those of all stripes who long for self- discovery.

I enjoy it greatly.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.q TOGETHER IN HARMONY I'm Robert Davis.

I am the artistic director of the Columbus pride bands.

We're an LGBTQ-plus organization, but our members are all colors and stripes and types and, and belief systems, and that's, that's one of the things that makes the group really wonderful.

And it brings a lot of people in who might consider us over maybe a similar community band elsewhere in Columbus.

I'm Jacob Lowry and I've been in Columbus pride bands for going on seven years now.

It's unlike any community I've ever had because we've all dealt with different hard times, the ups and downs.

We have different interests, backgrounds, and it's just, like, it's a whole other world of, like, networking potential, friendships, families.

And I just really have a hard time putting it into words how much I love this band.

It's really a big deal for me because, I mean, I grew up in a very small town.

I didn't come out until I went away to college.

The anti-bullying mission of the Columbus pride bands, it's one of our big ideas, if you will, for the group.

You know, the group is of course a community band, but being an LGBTQ-plus-centered organization, bullying has been such a struggle for members of the LGBTQ-plus community for ages.

And several years ago, as that came more to the forefront of the national discourse on kindness and LGBTQ safety in schools and in general public, the group really took that on as something that we care about and want to play a role in helping to combat bullying.

The ribbons for me in a way are an exciting way to welcome new members.

I'm a co-section leader for the low brass and getting to give those ribbons out to those new members is a new way of saying you're here with us, we're family, we're here for you no matter what.

Having the little ribbons is so nice because it makes it such a safe space.

Because frankly, I am a lesbian who went to high school in the middle of the Georgia bible belt and I was the only out person at my school.

And it was really, really rough.

Like I did get bullied quite a lot just for being out and comfortable with myself.

Our motto is uplifting our community through music and we try to do that.

We uplift our own community from within the band with music that we play and just by getting to make music together, which is such a wonderful experience in and of itself.

We perform around the community, whether it's in queer spaces or not around Columbus, because we want to be available to the Columbus and central Ohio community as a broad space as well.

You have thousands of high school band kids that are members of fantastic music programs throughout the state and throughout the country, and many of them need a way and place to continue playing without necessarily being a professional musician.

And I think community bands all around the country provide that for people.

Band is inherently a welcoming place.

You'll see that in any band room throughout the country, which is really great.

So, I think the musical mission of the group as an avenue for our folks to continue doing that is really important.

And then also the clear identity of the group creates a different sense of community within the band as a part of the LGBTQ-plus community.

And community is what it's all about.

When I first started with the band, like, I was 20, 21.

I had just moved to Columbus.

I didn't really know anybody besides a couple of people.

It was just so nice because I am not the most outgoing person there.

I'm not really good at making friends because I tend to stay in my own little bubble.

So, I'm not really comfortable with, like, getting -- with getting out there.

So, it was kind of a built-in immediate, like, family and friend group out of the gate and they were all super welcoming.

So, my fiancé and soon-to-be husband is actually -- sorry, is actually in the band as well.

And we met in 2018 after a concert, and we found out we shared a lot of common interests, and lo and behold, here we are.

I think that's the biggest thing is that this -- it is a band, but it's about so much more than just that for the folks who are in the group, and we hope our audience sees that by the way we play together, by the way we socialize together, and the camaraderie that we have.

If you haven't played an instrument in over 15 years, we won't judge you.

Come join us.

You'll learn and grow with us because a lot of us are in that same boat, so -- we're just a pretty fun group of people.

SALT OF THE EARTH Growing up in, in Puerto Rico, I was immersed in a really beautiful culture of people that are connected.

As a child, I grew up in poverty, and I always found art as a as an escape to allow me to dream and create innovation and think different about everything that was in front of me.

Helping people in my artwork, it was fueled by a necessity to redefine art.

You know, art, it's all around us is what we see, what we hear, what we taste, what we feel.

And yet, when we can use those tools strategically, it can really help change behavior.

There's nothing more beautiful than to love people.

And the moment that you show genuine interest magically, people open up and they share their frustrations, their heartaches, their joys, and it becomes part of a conversation.

The Grace Clinic is an amazing medical ministry, and as a platform they're providing free medical help as well as prescription medications for people without insurance.

I volunteer there as a translator.

Sometimes I joke about it, they're going to fire me.

But, you know, we're all volunteers.

Doctors are volunteers there and nurses.

And I think being an artist, I'm always inquisitive to I want to learn more about you.

You know, I'm really interested about you.

So, tell me more about your life.

And you get to create relationships with a lot of those patients.

As I was engaging in conversation, I will ask the patients, Hey, today is last day you see me what words of advice or wisdom will you give me?

Okay.

And their eyes were like, Whoa, this is I've never been asked that, but here's why I wanted to do that.

I think that every human is so valuable.

And, you know, when I was growing up, I remember some of the people that grew up near me, regardless if it was poverty or stress or they all understood the power of connecting in some of the most beautiful wisdom came from those who were hurting the most.

Not from a CEO, not from a thought leader.

Instead, the salt of the earth.

These people that are just, just beautiful.

So, I started this initiative.

I wanted to do paintings, oil paintings of a lot of these patients.

As I would talk to them, you know, they gave me some words of advice, I will write it down in my sketchbook, take a picture, do a couple of sketches.

And that became a body of work that was very moving for me personally as an artist.

The exhibit was really powerful because in the middle of the gallery I had two chairs and I had written between the two chairs.

Share your most treasured advice.

And I didn't plan for this, but as people were visiting the exhibit, they were writing their own thoughts of advice and they put them all over the floor.

So, in a matter of weeks, you know, the floor was covered with sticky notes and just beautiful messages of hope and messages of positivity.

I'm working on this really exciting project with my daughter that we call the ABCs of Encouragement for Girls.

It's a book that it helps to inspire and build up and edify young girls.

We're creating art through words, through illustrations that are meant to encourage and help them feel secure.

Then each page is going to include a just a right building block of a word that allows any caregiver to spend some time unpacking what that word means to them.

Since I'm always experimenting with things, I keep a sketchbook, I'm doing doodles out of coffee and for the letter Q In the book, I wanted this idea of being quick inspired by hurdles in track and field.

One thing that I'm inspired by, athletes do hurdles.

Obviously, you got to run a fast jump run real fast and do it again, right?

So, the thought that there is space between hurdles, recovery, planning, go again.

I think it's a beautiful analogy for life.

And the message that I have an illustration is be quick to learn from yesterday and go for tomorrow.

You got it.

I hope that it opens a deep conversation about times in life when you encounter a roadblock and how do you get around that or jump over it?

Right.

I hope this encouraged kids to open up about the realities that they're facing.

Why are they sad and share their hearts out and hoping that that we can change a generation?

I think it's our role to create escapes through art, to help them transform their minds into a new beginning, a new hope of encouragement and purpose.

You can imagine, I mean, because we saw images here on TV of the devastation that a Category four hurricane brought to the island.

I mean, my mom tells me when she opened the door after the hurricane, seeing hundreds of dead birds everywhere and like somebody had ran a giant lawn mower all over the island.

I mean, everything was down.

So, I wanted to bring some help.

And the first thing that came to mind was creating a silkscreen piece of art to raise funds, to send supplies.

We were gathering boxes.

We were sending them to this location.

And I had a couple of friends who will gather them and then go and deliver it to houses.

The idea of getting myself out of my comfort zone to use the only tools that I have, which is art and thinking to try to mitigate that need.

It was beautiful just to see the results of it.

But soon this became a bigger initiative that I really wasn't expecting.

That was just a phase one.

And the moment that things were moving good and people were getting what they needed.

We decided to go down because obviously it was a crazy need that people had.

So, I put together a group of volunteers from Ohio to go and rebuild roofs in Sonia's house.

It was very evident how the cracks, you know, that town and downtown, like how it rains every day.

So, water comes down, which is a fire hazard with, you know, the electrical.

So, she was not turning her lights on and everything.

We knock on the door and told her, you know, we're here from Ohio.

We want to help.

Maybe work on your roof to seal it.

And her face eyes open wide.

And she started crying.

Crying.

And she said, you don't understand that yesterday I lost my hope in God.

And I've been crying every night, crying out, crying out, crying out.

And because of her circumstances and today 12 strangers show up out of nowhere.

We found in the backyard a garden gnome, the Santa Claus garden gnome wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

And I have a painting of him holding the we call it Nick because Saint Nicholas but wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

But in the execution of that oil painting, what you see is some monochromatic blue values behind the oil.

And it creates this really ethereal presence of the image.

And that was really meant to capture families live for over a year under blue tarps.

So, when you got into their spaces and see how they lived in the inside of the home, had this beautiful blue glow that me as an artist, I was inspired by it.

But obviously people, when you're living in this condition it's not favorable because, you know, it doesn't really keep you out of the rain.

You know, they don't seal perfectly.

But that painting I love because of the composition and it's a chalk and a message of visual hope actually into the island and then seeing the blue around it.

It's a really powerful.

I think then my genuine passion and pursued for people I understand the power of the visual image, the power of color, the power of composition.

And a lot of times to really bring the right message to the heart of that person.

It may be a different medium for different people.

It takes a little bit of courage as an artist because a lot of times I approach things.

I've never done those particular media before.

And a perfect example, I'm working on a really important art exhibit, probably a work that I'm extremely proud of, but it involves gluing objects into a canvas and it's a different mind twist and exercise in my mind because I'm gluing things down and I'm analyzing shapes, I'm analyzing values, stepping back in and really thinking about is it the right placement to communicate the emotions has been challenging for me, but I'm really happy with the result of where this body of work is heading.

We Puerto Ricans, we love people.

We love this experience.

And it doesn't mean that my life is perfect.

You know, we all struggle with, you know, all the things of life, sickness and job loss, or you name it.

You know, they're all in there.

But if we move away from that and focus more in the in the emotional aspect of connecting with, with a greater humanity, we can make a better world that's at the heart of how we like to approach art through life, because it's a part of me.

And if I don't do it, I won't be happy.

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Funding for COLORES was provided in part by: Frederick Hammersley Fund, New Mexico PBS Great Southwestern Arts & Education Endowment Fund, and the Nellita E. Walker Fund for KNME-TV at the Albuquerque Community Foundation... ...New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts... and Viewers Like You.