ABOVE: Entertainer Selma Nilla. Photo courtesy the Fabulous Arts Foundation.
For nearly 12 years, the Sarasota-based Harvey Milk Festival transformed the greater Tampa Bay region’s LGBTQ scene by creating safe spaces through community-driven arts events.
By booking queer musician and other performers, visual artists, and writers, the nonprofit honored the legacy and political activism of its namesake – Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials – and used the arts to make a statement about equality.
But it’s no secret that the organization has always had big plans. Among them, a queer performing arts center is in the works in Sarasota.
Despite this, the nonprofit might have surprised some of its followers when it announced a big name change at the end of August. Now, the organization goes by Fabulous Arts Foundation – or FabAF – which better represents its mission of queer arts and advocacy work.
“We’ve always said, we’re working on a queer performing arts and community arts center, we want to build on what we’ve done, so we can’t stay under that name. We’re growing,” Shannon Fortner, founder and president says.
With a new name, FabAF comes with a new board. Fortner remains at the helm and is joined by vice president Mason Gallo, a queer-identified transman and activist; George Hemcher with the Sarasota Opera; and Andrew Ensign.
The organization offers a multitude of advocacy and community outreach initiatives, including diversity and inclusivity training, an LGBTQ youth scholarship program, a vlog series featuring queer and trans BIPOC voices, and a collaboration with the Sarasota Friendship Center to showcase the history of LGBTQ elders.
At the heart of its programming are its public arts festivals, including the upcoming Fabulous Independent Film Festival, which this year is incorporating some of the best pieces of the former Harvey Milk Festival, including live music, performing and visual artists, guest speakers, theatre and vendors.
And in the winter of 2022, the group is introducing a new event – a three-day Drag Culture Festival at the Sarasota Opera.
“We’re excited to have the Drag Culture event next year in a space like that. It’s exciting to have that visibility,” Fortner says.
For now, their primary focus is on the 11th annual Fabulous Independent Film Festival, a two-week showcase that features a mix of virtual and in-person art events.
The opening night art installation, set Sept. 23, 6 p.m., in Sarasota’s Rosemary District at 800 Cocoanut Ave., invites attendees to explore a parallel universe: a Queer Utopia.
The event will feature interactive and immersive installations exploring time travel and identity by artists including John Gascot, Tate Leigh, Michael Murphy and Tylia Janei. The evening will also include a performance by cellist Ash Hoffman. Guests are invited to dress in a way that embodies a theme.
There will also be a meet-and-greet with FabAF’s new board members and ambassadors.
“Honestly, it’s a breath of fresh air to have new board members come in and vibrate on the same level,” Fortner says. “We want the community to get to know them.”
General admission tickets can be purchased in advance for $20, while advance student tickets are $15 and $125 for VIP. At the door, general admission tickets are $25, student tickets are $20 and VIP tickets are $150.
On Sept. 24 at 7 p.m., the organization will host Q+Dance+Performance Art at the Players Studio, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts in Sarasota. The show features contemporary dance artist and instructor Bianca “JustBee” Russell.
From 2:15 to 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 25, FabAF will present the Music & Arts Festival, which will be held in the Rosemary District in Sarasota at 1250 10th Street. The event’s emcee will be New York City-based drag queen Selma Nilla, who started her drag career in Sarasota and is known for her winning appearance on the Netflix series “Nailed It!”
Her appearance is “a tease” to the new drag festival, Fortner says. “We’re really excited to have her be able to host and perform … we want to get people excited for the drag festival.”
The band lineup for the day includes a variety of genres and styles. Moon Kissed, a synth pop trio based in NYC, recently self-released their debut album, I Met My Band at a New Year’s Party. The album “draws upon themes of youth, heartbreak and the quiet power behind vulnerability (and) it features infectious hooks, virtuosic synth lines and unique drum melodies,” according to FabAF’s news release.
Other bands and musical artists performing at the festival include Fortner’s group MeteorEYES, Daddy, Roxx Revolt & the Velvets, Divine AF, Emmanuelle Sasson and Me Umbra.
And, of course, there’s the 11th annual Fabulous Independent Film Festival. Founded by Magida Diouri, it was adopted by the Harvey Milk Festival in 2016 and now falls under the FabAF umbrella. Fortner served as the programmer for the 2020 and 2021 events.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a threat to the community, the organization’s main concern is safety for all guests. So, the film festival’s format will look a little different this year.
Usually, the festival screens its films at Sarasota’s Burns Court Cinema. Last year, they were forced to take the festival virtual because of the ongoing pandemic.
But the community was ready to support the film festival in person again, Fortner says. “We just needed to find a way to do it safely. This year, my main focus as programmer is to keep folks who maybe wanted to see a film in person safe and also give people who didn’t want to go back into a theater yet an option to watch our films.”
To accommodate everyone, there are two ways to view the films. “We’ve created lots of things so the community can pick and choose what space they want to be in,” Fortner says.
There will still be a virtual component to the festival this year, still. All films – a wide variety of LGBTQ+ shorts and feature selections from around the world – are available on demand Sept. 23-Oct. 2.
There’s also a drive-in festival Sept. 30-Oct. 2 for those who want to attend in person, but still stay socially distanced and safe.
“This is big for us after having to do only virtual last year because of the pandemic,” she explains. “It’s something cool and accessible and safe and you get to see a cool queer film in the Rosemary District.”
The drive-in will screen the short “Gospel Island” and feature “Sweetheart” Sept. 30 at 8 p.m.; short “Moving Barcelona” and feature “The Sound of Identity” Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. A 10 p.m. screening of the short “Masisi Wouj” and feature “Summertime” will follow that evening at 10 p.m.
On Oct. 2, the short “Uncovered: All Cunts are Beautiful” will screen ahead of the feature “No Straight Lines,” followed by a 10 p.m. screening of the short “Freedom” and feature “Jump Darling.”
The films will be screened at 800 Cocoanut Ave. in Sarasota. Each night there will be specialty drinks and food trucks available at the site. Tickets are $30 and include drive-in admission for up to four people.
All events will incorporate various safety protocols, Fortner adds. This includes temperature checks, mask requirements and 6-feet social distancing. “Even outdoors,” she says.
All events are ticketed so there’s less one-on-one contact between attendees and festival volunteers and less chances of spreading the virus.
It was a tough decision to host this expansive festival this year with COVID-19 numbers surging in Florida, including the Sarasota area, but Fortner says the community needed it.
“There’s been so much disconnect in the community because of COVID. It’s scary times and a lot happening in the world, but we wanted to do this. We just needed to figure out how,” she says. “We have to find some kind of normalcy and figure out what does that look like.”
“I feel confident enough to hold the events,” she continues. “We need this festival. The arts organizations can’t just wither away, and the artists and performers can’t just not have a platform.”
Learn more about the Fabulous Arts Foundation, its upcoming celebrations and buy tickets at FabAF.org.
