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Exhibit at Tacoma's Museum of Glass creates 'conversation' about the LGBTQ experience

An exhibit of glass works made by all LGBTQ artists is making its West Coast debut at Tacoma's Museum of Glass. The national exhibit "Transparency: An LGBTQ+ Glass Art Exhibition," which opened Saturday, is curated and organized by the National Liberty Museum. It's the first of its kind.

Katie Buckingham, the museum's curator, says visiting the collection is a unique experience.

“The exhibition spans several generations of art-making,” Buckingham said. “So even in the exhibition itself, it’s creating its own conversation about how the experience for the LGBTQ community has changed, but how much further it can go.”

Buckingham says that this ties into the exhibit's themes of openness, self-expression and liberation. She says she's excited that the museum is able to be a platform for these voices. Some pieces capture the artists’ experience of of coming of age and discovering their identity during the AIDS epidemic. Others grew up during the Pride movement, and focus on social media and identity.

"Transparency," which runs through September 2020, features artists from the Northwest, including Nancy Callan, Sabrina Knowles and Jenny Pohlman. More than 20 LGBTQ glass artists are featured in total. The Museum of Glass will host a celebration of the exhibit's opening on Oct. 20.