Queer Fine Arts Selection Tool (QFAST)
Introduction
According to the Movement Advancement Project report Where We Call Home: LGBT People in Rural America, of the 2.8-3.9 million US LGBTQIA+ population that live in rural parts of the country, roughly 20% live in the Midwest. This collection of LGBTQIA+ Fine Art resources aims to assist adults, young adults, and librarians of rural or regional public libraries in the Midwestern United States in finding works by or for LGBTQIA+ individuals. This collection will act as a discovery tool for identifying creators and topics across a wide array of disciplines within the sphere of Fine Arts— including dance, film, poetry, zines, and more traditional fine arts. Online resources that were free to access, and that included art or artists from or working in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, or Nebraska were prioritized during the selection process. However, a gap quickly identified was the lack of midwest specific queer resources, especially those focused on rural areas in those states. This created a necessity to look for resources with a broader focus.
Several trends have become clear in evaluating the current landscape of LGBTQIA+ fine art e-resources. While there is a mix of older archival resources and newer collections, there is a lack of long-lasting established resources that provide depth and current materials. Many newer sources are tied to short-term initiatives, such as Pride month campaigns, and aren’t maintained or updated as time goes on. Several high-quality and mainstream resources are behind paywalls. Especially in areas like dance, which makes access difficult for public libraries due to cost. Another problem we ran into was determining credibility since much of the content is from independent organizations, without established reputations, or done voluntarily. Digitization presented further challenges, particularly with the zines and other physical material. Best practices for scanning and uploading content are not established, and the metadata, like subject headings with LGBTQIA+ topics, is often unclear or vague. Making it so that users would already need to know what they are looking for. These issues highlight a need for better curated, accessible, and maintained free e-resources covering LGBTQIA+ fine arts.
Process
The selection process was divided into two parts. The first involved individual discovery, selection and justification of found sources. Selection criteria were considered when selecting resources to include in the collection.
Each member of the group selected an art form or subject matter to select resources for. Forms of art included Art, Dance, Poetry, Film, and Zines. In initial discussions, the group discussed the varying definitions of what “fine art” may encapsulate, and attempted to select topics that they were familiar with and associated resources that covered varying formats, topics, and styles. Resources did not have to meet all criteria listed, but those that met a majority were given more consideration. Resources found in the search process that did not meet the majority of selection criteria, but were still considered good resources, were collected for further consideration to include in the final website. These could include resources that were repetitive and self-referential; resources that were not open access; resources that provided a “smattering” of collections, without more thoughtful curation; Pride month exclusive collections.
The search process itself was quite intensive in order to find resources that matched the criteria that we had set. Most of our searches started out on Google, but many of the results that were coming up were generic, single sources or works, or they were sources that were kept behind paywalls. Additionally, we extended our search out to different search engines like Ecosia, Dogpile, and DuckDuckGo. As a whole, we had a much better search on these search engines that do not have the same SEO and associations pushes that Google does. Specific sites and databases that are known to be Open Source or free were searched, such as InternetArchive and Vimeo in order to look for potential selections.
We found it helpful to look at library guides from both public and academic libraries in order to see what sources they had linked to, and follow those links further to specific sites. Some libraries and archives that we looked at were Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, UW Bothell, Dartmouth College, and the Seattle Public Library. Many of our searches took us deep into our search engines to find resources that were community collected and maintained.
As our main selection criteria was finding resources specifically directed toward the Queer Midwest community, our searches started quite specific, but we found that the type of resources we were looking for did not exist within the scope we were looking for. We were happy to find a few specific resources to add to the collection, but we did have to expand our search to resources for the wider queer community. Even then it was particularly difficult to find free, curated, and maintained fine arts resources for the Queer community that would be of use to librarians in particular. The resources we settled on have a nice balance of our selection criteria and serve to further the understanding and education of queer experience in and through the Fine Arts.
The second portion of selecting resources involved group reinforcement. Each group member presented their found sources and provided information on their selection process and findings, as well as their justification. Resources were finalized as a group after individual selection and justification. The search and selection process showed the necessity of this resource. Resources varied in their depth, breadth, and timeliness, and were selected based on a combination of the selection criteria. Each group member expressed difficulties in finding resources that were not located behind a paywall, or resources that had been maintained and thoughtfully curated. This further emphasized the importance of forming a collection of varying forms of resources within the realm of Fine Arts, in order to cover a vast amount of ground and show the room for growth.
Selection Criteria
It was determined that not all criteria had to be met in order to include a resource, so long as multiple criteria were met and justified by the selector.
- Resources pertaining to life and experiences of those in the Midwestern United States
- Archival resources
- Open access and Free
- Searchability and navigation
- Resource is maintained
- Resource is referential
- Intersectional representation of Queer life in Art
- Ad free and clean experiences
- Volume of resoruces
- Scarcity or necessity of resource
- Transparency of sources and funding
- Speificity and depth
- Cultural relevance