A Seminar led by Tony Whitfield at School of Visual Arts (January through April 2024)
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION
This course will surface the ways in which LGBTQ+ people and communities have impacted the ways in which mainstream American culture has been shaped by cultural production derived from thinking that challenges heteronormativity in post-World War II America until the validation of same sex marriage in 2014 Through the lenses of queer theory, evolving queer history, Since the emergence of “homosexuality” and “transsexuality” as identities in the late 19th century, queer culture has been presumed to develop in the margins of American life, ancillary to and shaped by heterosexual norms. Yet, the vast majority of queer people in the last hundred years have lived (to at least some degree) in the closet, allowing them to exist in the mainstream while maintaining a distinctly non-normative identity. Thus, to quote bell hooks, allowing them "to bring the margin into the center." In 15 meetings over the course of the semester, through lectures, discussions, texts, slides, films and video, we will explore the ways in which transformative integration of queer designs for living have occurred. Highlighting pivotal events and shifts in American cultural, political, and creative history this course will provide food for thought about the ways in queerness is integral to American notions of progress and freedom.
Monday, February 5, 2024
Laura Nyro, songwriter, singer
Flash Back Friday to Laura Nyro who Joni Mitchell called her only female peer, while Carole King cited her confessional songwriting as an influence on her own solo career.
Nyro grew up in New York City writing her own Broadway and pop influenced songs but her big break came in 1966 when legendary A&R man Artie Mogull (he signed Bob Dylan) literally found her in the Yellow Pages.
In the book “Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro,” Mogull tells the story of looking for a piano tuner and hiring Nyro’s father. "The guy comes up to my office and starts tuning the piano and tells me his daughter writes songs," Mogull explains. "The guy wouldn't let up, so just to get rid of him I said ‘Jesus Christ, tell her she can come tomorrow and play me some songs.’” The next day, after hearing 18-year-old Nyro sing, Mogull signed her, saying he "thought she could be the female Dylan.”
The next year Nyro released her debut album featuring two of her best-known songs “Stoney End” and “Wedding Bell Blues.” Journalist Ellen Sander remembered the impression she made on the scene. "I think Laura knew how to construct a mystique from the very beginning," Sander says. "As far as she was concerned, she already was a huge star.”
In 1967 Nyro travelled to California for the Monterey Pop Festival, and played a set she thought had bombed after hearing the crowd boo. “Laura walked off the stage crying,” festival co-producer Michelle Phillips recalls. As fellow co-producer Lou Adler also attested, “Laura carried that baggage all her life.” Despite that set back, Laura’s career continued to flourish and in 1968, she released her second album “Eli and the Thirteenth Confession” to critical acclaim. Nyro was later cited as an influence by a diverse range of artists from Jackson Browne (with whom she had a short relationship) and Alice Cooper to Patti Smith and Cyndi Lauper.
Almost 30 years after Monterrey, Adler listened to the original footage of Nyro’s performance and made a suprising discovery “Those weren’t boos!” Adler said. “It was a person saying, ‘We love you!’” Unfortunately, Nyro died of ovarian cancer in 1997 before she was able to hear it herself.
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