Littleton—a small town (who would’ve guessed?) in New Hampshire. Its intrinsically quaint name gives a sense of picturesque Americana and storybook suburbia. And in giving it a passing glance, it’s hard to think of much else from this town of just over six thousand residents. Given it is the definition of small-town USA, it’s maybe not surprising to know there’s a dispute happening over LGTBQ+ art. But you may be taken aback by the fact that this dispute has resulted in the proposed ban of all public art, at the behest of the follower of an apocalyptic evangelical would-be prophet who just so happens to be one of their councillors.

It all started when a local queer community and advocacy group, North Country Pride, had LGTBQ+-themed murals commissioned as part of a communal endeavour on the wall of a local business. Utilizing motifs of rainbow colours and nature, it’s a simple visual accent that is more or less what you’d expect of locally-driven public art. But this seemingly inoffensive act of cultural representation in a community project drew the ire of one far-right councillor in this purportedly middle-of-the-road town—Carrie Gendreau.

Gendreau is one of three city councillors for Littleton, and she took immediate issue with the presence of a queer-positive mural. This may seem obvious from a Pence-supported republican councillor, but Gendreau’s values veer further off the spectrum when you look at the exact influences that had her oppose this simple painting.

Jonathan Cahn is a New York novelist and Messianic Jewish rabbi who, since 2011, has produced a body of fiction revolving around his belief that America is descending into doomsday due to its divergence from biblical values. Espousing a dogmatic return to Judeo-Christian tenants, Cahn’s debut work The Harbinger paints the events of 9/11 as a mystically paralleled happening to the destruction of ancient Israel. He claims rainbows to be a symbol of demonic forces and has vocally derided Biden for lighting the White House in such colours for pride events, and believes that the Stonewall Riots opened a hellish portal for Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar to emerge into our world.

Courtesy of Beth Israel Worship Centre.L

Gendreau’s constituents state that she has spoken glowingly to them about the works of Cahn, and she herself states that her policies are guided by biblical scripture and told the Boston Globe “Homosexuality is an abomination.” Her complaint was carried up through official channels to town manager Jim Gleason. Contacting municipal lawyers on the matter of restricting certain public artworks, he was assured that if they were to have any form of ban on public artwork, it would have to be a complete one and not guided by prejudiced and bigoted aims. The town is now seriously considering a complete ban on public artworks thanks to Gendreau’s complaints and a seemingly shared sentiment of homophobia amongst town folks, evidenced in a citizen of Littleton telling Gleason, whose late son was gay, “I hope your son is happy in hell.”

Littleton’s bizarre doom spiral in many ways feels like a microcosm of the growing extremes at which the United States is attempting to erase LGBTQ+ presence. The contemplated ban has already begun to influence the arts in the town with local playhouse Theatre UP having their potential development funding turned down and their performance of the historical queer play La Cage Aux Folles called into question. Time will tell what will happen within the LGBTQ+ and arts communities in Littleton, but it seems like there are those who won’t rest until they bring their devilish policies to fruition.

In the ongoing struggle to establish artistic spaces in North America, every accomplished endeavour feels like a tremendous victory. With the newly established location for the Nia Centre for the Arts in Toronto’s Little Jamaica, the city has a victory to celebrate for itself as well as for its Black artist community.

Nia Centre is the first Black centre for arts in Toronto, the not-for-profit behind it has been running since 2009. Originally geared toward addressing youth violence and disconnect, it soon veered toward fostering youth creativity. The Nia Centre itself aims to be a hub for connection, creation, and promotion, as evidenced by its website’s statement:

“The Nia Centre is a space built with purpose and dedicated to Black artists and young creatives. Designed to serve a wide array of multi and interdisciplinary arts, the Centre provides the community with a multi-purpose performance theatre, event space, a digital media lab, exhibition space and a dedicated youth hub.”

Executive Director Alicia Hall speaks to the difficulty of Black artists navigating historically white and barrier-laden institutions. Describing the new centre as “a vessel for our culture,” there is a clear passion and community strength at the heart of this latest endeavour.

Executive Director Alicia Hall; courtesy of the Nia Centre.

The first artist in residence at Nia Centre is Apanaki Temitayo Minerve, a multimedia fibre artist with a multi-disciplinary background originally from Trinidad. Her work with Nia will centre around art quilting with a Caribbean focus as she creates a quilt collection inspired by this cultural connection. Speaking to CBC, she stated, “To have a space like this, in Little Jamaica, to be run by mostly young Black women who are at the peak of their game, and engaging community is a dream come true literally.”

Courtesy of Nia Centre for the Arts.

Nia Centre has already had a busy year—their figures tout eighteen programs run, three hundred and seventy artists worked with, and one hundred and sixty-two mentor/mentee pairings. They also clearly maintain their focus on youth and student programming, with three hundred youth having been helped by their Creative Connect program and a November 9th-10th audition listed for their inaugural Youth Showcase at the new centre.

The Nia Centre is a clear victory for those behind it after almost a decade of work and holding a lease for the space since 2015. After three years of $12 million renovations, it’s a moment of celebration more than earned. With a bright future ahead of this space and its programs, this will certainly be a meaningful arts centre to keep an eye out for.

Protesting through the channels of high-profile arts institutions is a tricky feat. Whether it be via an act of visible disobedience a la Just Stop Oil or a work itself aimed towards protest, there’s a high likelihood that the intent will not reach the intended. But artists Nicholas Galanin and Merritt Johnson are taking the approach of an absence of art in order to express their protest, as they have called for the de-installation of their work Creation with her Children.

In an effort to express their solidarity with Palestine and decry the republican House of Representative’s bill to give $14.3 billion in support to Israel’s Iron Dome defence system, Galanin and Johnson have requested that Creation with her Children be taken down from display in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Their work is part of the gallery’s first show of Indigenous art in 30 years (Galanin being a member of the Lingít/Unangax tribes) “The Land Carries Our Ancestors”, curated by artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith.

The artists state on Instagram:

“We’re grateful to Jaune Quick-to-See Smith for curating the The Land Carries Our Ancestors, and for choosing to include our work, and to the National Gallery for supporting the exhibition and publication. The work we contributed to The Land Carries Our Ancestors, titled Creation with her children is a reflection on survival, resistance against colonization, the importance of continuum and connection to Land. The work we do as artists does not end in the studio or with our artist statements, it extends into the world.

We do not take the importance of this exhibition for granted. It is with deep regret that we must ask for our work be removed from the National Gallery due to US government funding of Israel’s military assault and genocide against the Palestinian people. We’re calling on the Federal Government to demand an immediate ceasefire, cut military aid to Israel, and lift the siege on Gaza.”

The National Gallery has agreed to take down Creation with her Children in accordance with the artists’ wishes. It’s a unique form of protest and one that perhaps may only have its desired impact if other artists choose to follow suit. Nevertheless, the bill that aims to support the continued violence is promised to be vetoed by Joe Biden.