Westmoreland Museum plans Pride Prom, Queer Artist Pop-up Market

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art will celebrate Pride Month with a Pride Prom on June 25.

Running from 6 to 9 p.m., the event will feature a dance party, a special performance by dance-pop singer-songwriter Bryce Bowyn, a “Prom-enade” fashion show in which attendees are the models and a cash bar.

“This is for all members of the community, and it’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Hannah Vincent, the Greensburg museum’s public programs manager. “It will be nice for all people, whether they’re part of the LGBT community or not, just to come out and celebrate Pride.”

The event is presented in partnership with PFLAG Greensburg and Westmoreland LGBTQ Interfaith Network, which will provide informational resources, along with other community outreach organizations.

“It means so much to have an event like this at the museum,” said Jean Slusser of Blairsville, who, with her partner Jim Galik, is active in both PFLAG and the Interfaith Network. “It’s a win-win for the museum and for us.

“To have them do this event in a setting that has, over the years, been seen as a fairly conservative place is amazing and adds a whole different level of acceptance for the whole LGBT community at large.”

Pride Month is celebrated in June to honor the 1969 riots protesting police raids of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village. The protests helped spark the gay rights movement in the United States.

The June observance stems from a 2000 proclamation from President Bill Clinton designating June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.

Vincent said she wasn’t aware of any other large-scale Pride Month events happening in Westmoreland County.

“The museum is a place to learn, where you think about things you don’t necessarily know but can be exposed to in a different way,” Slusser said. “This is an event where people along the whole spectrum, from cisgender to transgender, can be together in the same place at the same time and just enjoy themselves, and see each other positively in a different way.”

Attendees are invited to dress in Pride or prom fashions. Boutonnieres and wrist corsages will be available for a donation to the museum.

Drag queens Tootsie Snyder and Alora Chateaux will emcee and judge the fashion show. Prizes will be awarded for Best Pride Attire and Best Prom Attire.

Music for the dance party will be curated by DJ Liz Maday, and a Pride Artist Spotlight will focus on works by queer-coded artists in the museum collection.

Earlier on prom day, The Westmoreland will host a Queer Artist Mini Mart from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Among wares for sale from local queer artists will be miniatures, stickers and fiber art from Annesley Bug; comics and illustrations from Jayla Patton; and comics, apparel and stationery from higu rose.

“We hope people in the LBGTQIA+ community in the greater Westmoreland County area will see that – with this event happening at such a prominent place as The Westmoreland Museum – there are safe spaces in the Greensburg area for people in the community,” Galik said. “We want them to know that we see them, we love them and we celebrate them.”

Admission to the Pride Prom is free and all ages are welcome. Advance registration is strongly encouraged at 888-718-4253 or thewestmoreland.org.