About

Queer Tomorrows are being built right now; pick up a hammer and be more than a witness. The queer community has always been one of creativity. To pursue a queer life is to be brave enough to dream past conventional reality and imagine new ways of living. Despite legislative attacks on our community, we continue to pursue authentic relationships, build mutual support, and make meaning together. The art in this showcase offers a glimpse into the Queer Tomorrows being imagined today. Join us for ArtOut 2026, one of the leading annual LGBTQ+ art shows in the U.S., and experience artwork that expands our ideas about what is possible tomorrow while offering new lenses on beauty, family, milestones, and interdependence. Go beyond art on the wall with an evening of featured artwork across a range of mediums, curated performances, opportunities to mingle with queer founders, and a community actively imagining what comes next. At ArtOut 2026, tomorrow isn't just discussed; it’s forged. Note: After the event, we will walk or take the bus to the Sycamore for the after party! It is a 20 minute walk, a 10 minute bus ride on the 19, or an 8 minute drive from the gallery. We look forward to seeing you there! ArtOUT is generously sponsored by Pilot: Bookkeeping and Goodwin Procter LLP. AGENDA 6:00pm: Doors Open @the SF LGBT Center (1800 Market St.) (wine and cheese) 6:30pm: Welcome & Dance Performance by Queer Taiko 7:00pm: Song and Guitar by Jens Ibsen & Brig Urias 7:30pm: Dance Performance by JanpiStar 8:00pm: Clarinet Solo by Jackson Willis 8:30pm: Surprise Piece by Eliza Drinker 9:00pm: Event Close Out ORGANIZERS StartOut is the leading nonprofit that increases opportunity and success for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs through community, programs and access to capital and mentors. Learn more at startout.org The SF LGBT Center is a leading Bay Area nonprofit whose mission is to connect its diverse community to opportunities, resources and to achieve our vision of a stronger, healthier, and more equitable world for LGBT people and our allies. Learn more at https://www.sfcenter.org/the-center/ The Sycamore is a beloved Mission Street wine bar celebrating self-made Bay Area spirit with a cozy neighborhood vibe. Visit https://thesycamoresf.com/ for hours, menu, and venue info. Address: 2140 Mission, San Francisco, CA 94110 PERFORMERS 6:30pm Queer Taiko, formed in 2013, is a multicultural and intergenerational group of LGBTQIA+ individuals and allies committed to building trans and queer community, representation, and visibility through Japanese taiko drumming. Based in Oakland, the group was founded by Kristy “Aki” Oshiro (they/them), a queer, trans, non-binary, fourth-generation Japanese Okinawan-American professional taiko artist. Aki began their taiko journey at age 9 with Kona Daifukuji Taiko in Kona, Hawai’i, and has since grown to become the founder and Artistic Director of Tsubaki Ensemble and SOKO Taiko. They have performed and conducted taiko workshops across the U.S. and internationally, including in Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, and Colombia. Through Japanese taiko drumming, Queer Taiko creates space for trans and queer community, representation, and visibility. ________ 7:00pm Jens Ibsen & Brig Urias Jens Ibsen is a composer, baritone, and multidisciplinary artist whose vocal talents have not only led to performances from Dubai to Shanghai as a principal soloist, but also set him up to becoming the first African-born member of the world-renowned Vienna Boys Choir. His music seeks to liberate the definition of metal music from the confines of the metal band, composing for traditional classical ensembles while infusing Western classical, avant-garde, Arab, Turkish, and African diasporic music. Ibsen uses polystylism as a language through which to pursue questions of queerness, ancestry, and structural power. His music has been performed all over, from The Polish Hearth in London to the San Francisco Symphony. His latest work, Scene Symphony, is a string orchestra piece inspired by pop-punk. As an active opera composer, Ibsen’s HWAEL-RAD premiered at Beth Morrison Projects’ 2026 PROTOTYPE Festival as a site-specific performance fusing opera and metal in Times Square. Brig Urias is a guitarist based in San Francisco. His approach is at once retrospective and forward-thinking, drawing upon a rich tradition of classical guitar artistry while seeking to take his skills in new and exciting directions. Brig Urias is a guitarist based in San Francisco. His approach is at once retrospective and forward-thinking, drawing upon a rich tradition of classical guitar artistry while seeking to take his skills in new and exciting directions. ________ 7:30pm JanpiStar was born and raised in Puerto Rico before moving to Oakland, California, in 2018. This move allowed them to join AXIS Dance Company, the leading integrated dance company in the USA, where they continue to dance today. JanpiStar has been commissioned to choreograph and perform throughout the Bay Area by festivals and organizations including Queering Dance Festival and FreshMeat Productions. Over the last five years, JanpiStar has developed their art of being a drag queen in a wheelchair, performing drag shows at venues and events including the Museum of Modern Art San Francisco, the California Academy of Sciences, Oasis SF, and Oaklash Drag Festival. ________ 8:00pm Jackson Willis is a clarinetist and lawyer living in the Bay Area. He has bachelors’ degrees in clarinet performance from the Peabody Conservatory and Political Science from the Johns Hopkins University, and he studied law at Stanford. He played in the Stanford Symphony during his time at Stanford Law School and currently plays clarinet in the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony. ________ 8:30pm Eliza Drinker is a sculptor from Oakland, CA. Her mediums of choice include ceramics, technology, costume, and food. She is currently focused on curating shared sensory experiences as an antidote to an increasingly disconnected world. She is process-oriented, with an interest in the imperfections that arise and failures that are encountered in the course of creation. Her latest works explore organic forms, opulence, and the narrative relationship between a creator and their material, particularly in reworking the environment into echoes of its original form. SPONSORS Pilot is a financial back-office services company helping startups and small businesses manage their finances and grow with confidence. Based in San Francisco and Nashville, Pilot provides bookkeeping, tax, outsourced operations, and CFO services designed to give businesses the financial clarity and support they need to make better decisions. Pilot works with companies across industries, including startups, creative agencies, professional services, consumer goods, and retail. Goodwin Procter LLP is a global law firm focused on helping some of the world’s most successful and innovative investors, entrepreneurs, and disruptors achieve great things. Founded in 1912, Goodwin brings together deep industry knowledge and legal expertise across technology, life sciences, private equity, real estate, healthcare, and financial services. Motivated by its commitment to building inclusive teams and meaningful opportunities, Goodwin prioritizes its clients, its people, and the communities in which it works. ACCESSIBILITY AND COMMUNITY CARE No one turned away for lack of funds (NOTAFLAF). If the ticket price is not financially accessible, please email Julia at julia.gleason24@gmail.com for an access code. The SF LGBT Center gallery is ground-level on Market Street, and there is an elevator to the performance space upstairs. Please contact the organizer for specific accessibility needs. StartOut advises that by participating in this event you will give permission to share your registration information, day of photograph captured with StartOut and our event partners.

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