Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art

Museums, Historical Sites, and ZoosUnited States11-50 Employees

Created by our founders to preserve LGBTQ identity and build community, the Leslie-Lohman Museum acts as a cultural hub by aspiring to reclaim scholarship from a queer perspective, to provide a training ground for queer artists and cultural workers, and to examine the juxtaposition between art and social justice in ways that provoke thought and dialogue.
 
The Museum is the only dedicated art museum in the world to exhibit and preserve artwork that speaks about the LGBTQ experience. Our roots trace back to 1969 when Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman held an exhibition of work by gay artists for the first time in their SoHo loft. Throughout the 1970s, they continued to collect and exhibit gay artists while supporting the SoHo art community. During the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s, the collection continued to grow as they rescued the work of dying artists from families who, out of shame or ignorance, wanted to destroy it.  This led to the formation of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation in 1987. In recognition of its importance in the collection and preservation of LGBTQ history, the organization was accredited as a museum in 2016. With a collection of over 30,000 objects, the Museum hosts six major exhibitions annually, offers several public programs throughout the year, publishes an arts newsletter, and maintains a research library of over 3,000 volumes. The Museum embraces the rich creative history of the LGBTQ art community by educating, informing, inspiring, entertaining, and challenging all who enter its doors.
 
Located at 26 Wooster Street in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. Admission is free with a suggested donation of $9. Open Wed-Sun, 12-6 pm, and Thurs, 12-8 pm. The Museum is a nonprofit organization and is exempt from taxation under section 501(c)3 of the IRS Code.

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