John Glascot

Queer artist John Gascot, hailing from the Caribbean, traces his childhood roots to Puerto Rico, an origin that fuels his passion for vibrant hues. While he delves into diverse artistic styles such as Painterly and Geometric Abstractions, his hallmark remains the Latin Pop genre. Coined affectionately after years of honing his craft, “Latin Pop” merges Pop art, Cubism, and Folk art, resulting in a distinct visual dialect. These artworks serve as modern narratives, blending global influences to challenge cultural barriers.

In John’s Latin Pop creations, cultural boundaries blur as diverse influences intertwine in contemporary tales. The figures depicted often possess grand, voluptuous forms,symbolizing not just size but strength and presence. His aim is to craft art that is both inclusive and thought-provoking, questioning social and gender norms dictated by various societies. Beyond his artistic endeavors, John holds roles as co-owner and Studio Coordinator at Studios @ 5663. He is the driving force behind Diversity Arts 501c3, an organization dedicated to empowering underrepresented youth through free, safe spaces, art supplies, and mentorship for self-expression. Additionally, he stands as a founding member of the Pinellas Arts Village.

Artist statement:

I am a Queer, Caribbean-born Puerto Rican artist based in Pinellas County, Florida. My work blends visual storytelling with global art traditions, drawing on Cubism, Folk, and Pop influences to blur boundaries between cultures, genders, and identities while celebrating a more inclusive artistic landscape.

Working primarily in acrylic on canvas, my evolving practice also incorporates mixed media and textiles. While my earlier work explored folklore and cultural heritage, my current focus is figurative, highlighting local communities and marginalized voices. Through my work, I aim to amplify stories that deserve to be seen and heard.

My studio is located at Studios @ 5663, 5663 Park Blvd., in Pinellas Park. WWW.GASCOT.COM

he/they

Peg Green she/her

I am a human being artist living in Sarasota. I create with passion.

Artist statement:

This is about audacity - to discover and affirm an authentic personal identity - to withstand the diatribes of righteousness and propriety. It's about Self Pride. I used the colors of the Transgender Flag and the Nonbinary Flag. The fabric is stitched, pieced, and fused in standard quilting techniques. I let the art take its rounded, sensuous curves out of the rectangular frame and find its own shape.

Leah Brown she/they is a Florida-based visual artist and intimate portrait photographer whose work explores embodiment, softness, and radical self-acceptance. Through watercolor, mixed media, and photography, she romanticizes the human form with a lens rooted in reverence rather than consumption.

Her practice centers on permission permission to exist, to feel, to transform, and to be witnessed without shame. Influenced by natural textures, botanical symbolism, and poetic storytelling, her work often blends delicacy with emotional depth, holding complexity in gentle hands.

Leah’s creative philosophy is grounded in collaboration and consent. Whether behind the camera or at the page, she approaches each body as sacred terrain — something to be honored, not corrected. Her work invites viewers into a space where vulnerability is not weakness, but power. She lives and creates in Sarasota, Florida

Artist statement:

Joy, for me, is not a surface emotion.

It is survival made visible.

My work exists in the space between softness and defiance. I am interested in what happens when a body — especially one that has been politicized, questioned, or misunderstood — chooses delight anyway.

Trans joy is not denial of hardship. It is not naïveté. It is reclamation.

In my practice, I romanticize the human form through botanical symbolism, gentle linework, and intimate composition. I approach bodies not as spectacle, but as sacred. Not as “before and after,” but as becoming.

There is something revolutionary about a trans body depicted in rest. In bloom. In play. In tenderness. Without explanation. Without defense.

Joy becomes a refusal to disappear.

I believe that when we create images of trans people that center radiance rather than trauma, we expand what is imaginable — not just for those being represented, but for everyone witnessing. We create visual evidence that thriving is possible. That beauty is expansive. That becoming is holy. This work is my offering toward a world where trans bodies are not simply surviving — but flourishing.

With a foundation rooted in formal art college training and a practice largely shaped by self-guided exploration Natalia developed a distinctive voice centered on drawing. Her work reflects both technical discipline and an intuitive, evolving approach to mark-making and subject matter.

Over the past three years, she has actively participated in a range of exhibitions, steadily building a presence within the regional art community. The exhibition history includes Emergence (Art Out, June 2023, Gulfport), Summer Heat (GCAA Artworks, July 2025, GCAA), Drawn to Flesh (Sapphic St. Pete Art Show, November 2025, Five Deuces Galleria), and Face Value (Dunedin Fine Art Center, January 2026, Dunedin Fine Art Center). Her involvement in queen-focused exhibitions highlights an engagement with themes of identity, performance, and expression.

Artists statement:

I am a self-taught queer artist intensely passionate about human form. Through figure drawing and portraiture, I seek to capture the essence of my subjects without context, revealing presence in its most direct and honest state. Working in a variety of media, I am especially drawn to charcoal because of its versatility and raw immediacy. My recent portraits focus on queer individuals, giving the me a chance to recognise myself in others and come closer to understanding the lived experiences of fellow humans.

My body of work is mostly monochrome due to using charcoal on paper or primed canvas, with subtle hints of hues of dry pastel here and there.

John Fraun he/they is a queer, Sarasota-based artist originally from Providence, Rhode Island. They have worked across multiple disciplines, from two-dimensional media to drag performance, for over 15 years, and are currently expanding their practice into mixed media assemblage using found materials. They have worked in arts organizations for over a decade and are an adjunct instructor of Art History at the State College of Florida, as well as an assistant at local galleries. John holds an MA in Art History from the University of South Florida.

Artist Statement:

My work is built from detritus and disposable materials compressed into dense, unstable surfaces. These materials are not neutral; they carry the residue of hyperconsumerism, addiction, and cycles of maintenance that blur the line between care and self-destruction.

The work is shaped by lived experience, including illness, stigma, and trauma, and reflects the strain of keeping a life functional while it continuously destabilizes. Addiction informs the work through cycles of overuse, accumulation, repetition, and breakdown.

As an HIV+ artist, I explore the tension between what the body reveals and what it keeps hidden how it is monitored, feared, desired, and misunderstood, as both a site of pleasure and a site of risk. This work rejects the polished distance of the art world, instead foregrounding filth, overconsumption, and discomfort as lived realities rather than safe, distant aesthetic positions and performance.

These pieces resist resolution. They hold tension between attraction and disgust, surface and collapse, care and decay. The goal is not to clean these conditions up, but to confront them directly and make visible what is often hidden, sanitized, or ignored.

Shoghi Aqdas he/him(b. 1991, Africa) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores philosophical inquiry, identity, and the emotional landscapes of lived experience. Raised in East Africa and later relocating to the United States, he developed his artistic voice through a largely self-directed path shaped by resilience, experimentation, and introspection.

Artist statement:

I am, therefore, I create… ™

Diana Pepper she/her I am a retired Biology teacher with a diverse academic background, including undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Psychology, and a Master’s in Theology from Vanderbilt University, as well as a second Master’s in Education. A few months after the car accident that left me with a TBI, I had no choice but to retire from teaching. The surprise came when I felt compelled to paint and express myself. Despite having NO formal training in painting or Art, I now paint several times a week. It heals and soothes me. Painting has become a raw need within my deepest self. I hope my story and paintings convey a powerful message to those facing similar challenges. Live life lie you might have a TBI BEFORE something actually happens.

Artist Statement:

A Pepper Paints, where art is reborn from adversity. Following a traumatic brain injury (car accident) on 12/29/2024, painting became my voice, my therapy, and my passion. Ideas, feelings, colors, shapes, and raw energy now flow from my mind directly onto the canvas. The artist knife and brush guides me on a journey of healing and creating. My paintings are a step into a world of color and emotion. My goal is for the viewer to experience the unique energy infused into every painting.

Monika DeLeeuw-Tanchyk she/heris a St Petersburg-based artist who draws on a deeply religious and conservative upbringing, and its conflict with deconstruction and self-discovery. Her work explores themes of queerness, politics, hypocrisy, and symbolism.

One of her recent series of friends in the LGBTQ+ community highlights images of resilience and defiance. Through expressive portraiture, she captures moments of strength and transformation where shame is rejected and identity is reclaimed. She is particularly interested in personal history and how narratives of change and transformation can be expressed through unique visuals, colors, and symbols.

Artist Statement:

My work often centers around what it means to reclaim identity after growing up in an environment where queerness was silenced, belittled, and erased. Raised in a deeply religious and conservative family, I was taught to suppress parts of myself before I even realized they existed. Over the last 10+ years I have been deconstructing my faith and identity - a process that has been both painful and liberating.

These paintings are not only about my own feelings and transformation, but about honoring loved ones who are doing the same. Many of my friends share similar histories of repression and quiet resistance that eventually became louder, bolder, and utterly unapologetic. One piece in particular, "Megan," celebrates a very close friend who I first met in a very religious college. In this painting, her gesture is not one of anger - it is freedom, humor, power, visibility, and complete rejection of shame.

Through my work, I want to express defiance as both protest and celebration. I hold space for grief, joy, rebellion, and transformation, because for us, rising is rarely quiet.

Dave Bennett he/him I am a 78 year old gay male, married to my husband for almost 13 years (together 25 years). I have a BA in art and speech/theatre and an MFA in Costume/make-up, scenic and lighting design from Ohio University. I have taught art and speech/theatre to grades 3-12 and speech on the college level. Also, I have worked professionally as a theatrical designer. For about 12 years I have been a par12t of a knitting/crochet group called the Knit Wits and try to complete about 2 pieces each month. I am also a part of an Inclusion Ministry at Community of Faith United Methodist Church in Davenport, Fl.

Between my husband and I we have 9 children, 12 grandchildren, a great grandson and a great granddaughter (due in June).

We lobbied in Tallahassee with Equality Florida (several years ago) for adoption rights for the LGBTQIA community and did so for several years until we overturned the ban in Florida.

Artist Statement:

The piece I would like to submit is titled The Some/Sum of US. It is a crochet piece which measures approx. 12" wide by 300 feet long (it can be displayed in a much shorter space since it is very flexible as a fiber piece). The materials vary from traditional yarns to plastic "caution tape" and other fiber types of "cording". All along the piece are "tags" which read: Some of us are straight/some of us are gay, or some of us are young/some of us are older and many many other comparisons of human beings. It is colorful, full of texture and thought provoking with the ultimate goal of awakening the viewer to the realization of how our differences need to be celebrated and how much alike we all really are.

Moraima Montijo she/her is a Puerto Rican mixed media artist based in Seffner, Florida. As a queer artist, her work explores the layered emotional landscapes of identity, self-reflection, and human connection, often centering women as vessels of strength, duality, and transformation.

Working with acrylic paint, markers, and ink, Montijo creates symbolic portraiture defined by bold linework, intricate patterns, and luminous accents. Recurring elements such as roots, birds, flames, and fragmented forms form a visual language that speaks to internal dialogue, resilience, and the coexistence of vulnerability and power.

Her recent body of work, including pieces from the Conversations from Within series, invites viewers into intimate psychological spaces where multiple selves and emotions exist simultaneously. Through these compositions, Montijo challenges the idea of a singular identity, presenting the self as layered, evolving, and deeply interconnected an experience that resonates within queer narratives of visibility and self-discovery.

Montijo’s practice is both personal and communal, reflecting shared human experiences through symbolic imagery. Guided by intuition and lived experience, she continues to develop a visual language rooted in healing, introspection, and the courage to be seen.

Artist statement:

Between Us: Conversations from Within

This collection explores the quiet, complex dialogue that exists within identity, love, and self-perception. Each piece captures a moment where duality becomes visible—where softness meets structure, vulnerability coexists with strength, and multiple voices learn to inhabit one body.

Through fragmented forms, layered patterns, and intimate compositions, these works invite the viewer to pause and look deeper. Faces merge, divide, and reconnect, mirroring the internal conversations we often carry in silence. Some pieces whisper connection and tenderness, while others confront tension, control, and the act of holding oneself together.

At its core, this collection is about integration—the journey from separation to wholeness. It reflects the process of sitting with every version of oneself and recognizing that even in contrast, there is unity.

Within the context of queer identity, these works speak not only to connection, but to resilience. They embody the act of existing fully, of claiming space without apology, and of holding truth even in moments of fragmentation. In a world that often challenges visibility, this work remains present, layered, and unapologetically whole.

Mo Henry-Rivera they/them is an autistic, Mexican-American, multidisciplinary artist who born and raised in San Diego, California. They identify as a two-spirit nonbinary, lesbian. Currently based in Sarasota, Florida, their career is in home health memory care, while also taking time to volunteer in activism and outreach. Mo's artistic expression focuses on the intricacies of human emotions and experiences through both positive and negative portrayals.

Artist Statement:

I express myself through creative outlets such as poetry, painting, modeling, photography, coloring, and singing. Whatever feels right for me at the time.

Much of my work comes from processing my intense emotions. When there are dark aspects that are intentionally done to bring awareness to the negative areas of my human psyche, and hopefully from that I can continuously heal and grow.

This mixed media piece explores the complexities of the soul, and how it cannot be bound to societal structures. The project started as my grieving process for a friend who had recently passed. Yet it turned into much more, as I let myself connect with my inner creativity and identity.

It incorporates a variety of colors and textures, to portray that nothing in the universe is simple, least of all humans. I chose a mixture of different shades for the skin tone, and kept the soul genderless in expression. I also made wings to imply freedom and self-strength. My poem helps to guide the viewer through the soul's journey of individuality and empowerment.

If the viewer takes anything from seeing my work I hope it is this; let yourself be authentic, give your soul grace, and never forget that you are extraordinary.

Rainier he/they is a trans, autistic, disabled individual who is a mover, shaker, and creator. Rainier transforms their unique experience of elder transness in a body they wish was diffuse like a cloud in their work. Rainier focuses on the pits of despair changing hands to ferocity of spirit and hope.

Artist Statement

Trans resistance is finding a home in each other. When society seeks to isolate us and lull us into hyper individualism and nihilism, we boldly claim our bridges forged with one another. Through acts of love, support, and defiant hope, we find our floating homes in each others‘ eyes.

Alfredo Garcia he/him was born and raised in a small town in Mexico and later attended university there studying philosophy and a bit of art, while studying he visited the large art museums there which helped ignite and bring out his vision of becoming an artist that helps inspire and encourage future artist before making his way to the US, during the 20 years he’s called Bradenton home and in the early days he started selling small pieces right out of his home and eventually he founded his gallery Arte Coyoacano which he’s been running for 15 years.

The gallery has become a celebrated space for local arts and community truly reflecting his journey from those humble beginnings. The gallery has really become a part of the community whether it's mentoring local artists participating in exhibitions around town or just creating a welcoming space to articulate newideas. Alfredo has held solo exhibitions in St. Petersburg, Bradenton’s College, and the Ringling in Sarasota. He’s created unique artwork for Special community events like independent celebrations and events for the Blues festival held at the baseball park in his area. Alfredo has been a mentor for inspiring art students and a celebrated leader in the art world during his time and has seen a transformation in himself and the people he’s inspired. His use in vibrant colors has shifted people’s moods and perspectives, making a radical shift on the inside helping them feel good and happy.

Yazmine Akamine she/they is a Venezuelan/Japanese-American movement artist originally from northern Kentucky. Most recently a company apprentice for Azara Ballet, a contemporary ballet company, based in Sarasota, Florida. She received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee in May 2025. Most notably performed works by Jennifer Archibald, Norbert De La Cruz, and Andrea Miller. Additional professional performance experience includes Choreography Project Providence, Newport Contemporary Dance Festival, and Jo-Me Dance Theater.

Passionate about sharing the joy of movement and expression through teaching and choreography, using improvisation, as a method to innovate authentic and powerful work. She is currently experimenting with multidisciplinary mediums of expression, fashion, literature, film, and visual art to create multi-dimensional experiences in her creative process.

Bekah she/her was born and raised in Venice, FL. Her work can be described as minimal, documentary, and a representation of life. Bekah believes that photography, no matter the subject, is about capturing the feeling of being in a moment, using a brand, or being present in a place. She aims to convey that in every photo she takes, making her work personal and filled with life.

Layers to Liberation, 2026

Through the mediums of photography, fashion, and movement, this series explores various aspects of identity, both individually and collectively. Femininity, Heritage, Culture, Queerness, and Creativity intersecting as displayed through layered textures, angular compositions, and physical performance. Shared moments of discomfort and conflicting identities expressed through restrictive or unconventional aesthetics.

Embracing authenticity especially when defying expectations. Moving through the space with freedom untangling ourselves and stripping to the basics, reflecting on the items that once shaped us, sharing moments with others. A form of acceptance but seeking comfort within the true self. And sharing with those we are so blessed to be surrounded by.

Simply existing proudly amongst all the layers they may have once been protective in nature. All relevant and true. But it is simply enough to exist. Joy is our responsibility to respond and resist.

Rachel Covello she/her s a multidisciplinary artist based in St. Petersburg, Florida, working across painting, photography, video, and handcrafted installations. Her work is shaped by a background in animation, advertising art, and nutrition, along with a career spanning tourism storytelling, event production, and visual media.

Artist Statement:

“This 4-panel piece is part of the “Cracks of Resilience” series, showcasing the Progressive Pride flag. It reflects moments when our foundation feels like it’s breaking, and the strength we still carry within. That resilience is represented through the sunflower.

Under black light, hidden flowers and leaves begin to appear, symbolizing growth that continues even when it isn’t visible on the surface.

Built with more than 50 layers of textured paint, the piece mirrors how we move through life—layered, imperfect, and anything but smooth. The separate panels represent the different communities within our community coming together to create progress.”

Pride Protest Rose Garden

Please visit Beck and ask them about their magical installation.

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