In Focus: ‘Pride In The Arts’ Kicks Off Bemidji Pride’s 2024 Festivities

Pride Month may have been back in June, but Bemidji Pride is holding its annual summer festival.

Held on Thursday, Pride in the Arts is a now a continued series as part of the Bemidji Pride Weekend Festival. The second annual art show is meant to empower local artists from the LGBTQ+ and Two-Spirit community by creating a space to connect with their friends and neighbors, sell their art, and showcase their talent.

“After last year’s event, we were talking about giving back to the community, so I thought it’d be great to put this money into art shows for the Two-Spirit LGBTQ+ community, a group of people that usually don’t have an outlet to have these types of shows,” explained Matthew Dahl-Wooley, Bemidji Pride Treasurer.

“It’s an amazing way to highlight all the artists in our community, especially those that necessarily don’t always have a chance, and those who are a part of the LGBTQ community+,” stated Rayne Heck, Bemidji Pride Marketing and Merchandising Coordinator. “Our artists are here to showcase their art, and a lot of them are also selling their art. We’ve also got our Bemidji Pride silent auction, and then of course, we’ve got Table For 7 here, serving up all of the amazing farm-to-table appetizers, wine, beverages, all of the great things.”

Bemidji Pride in the Arts does its best to include all forms of art, including digital works.

“Every time we put together an art show, I try to mix up the mediums. A lot of different things this time,” said Matthew. “So this time pottery, we’ve got VR, we also have a wood carver that comes all the way from the Cities. This is the second time she’s done this show with us. I tried to mix it up a little bit and bring in people I haven’t had before and mediums I haven’t had before.”

One of the main goals of Pride in the Arts is give those who are nervous about showing off their art an outlet to do so while surrounded by their peers.

“What it’s doing is it’s getting people that have always felt shoved into that closet and forced to stay there, that they have an avenue,” Matthew added. “They have friends that are people who care about them because art, it’s a window to their heart. It’s very vulnerable when you express your art to someone, so you want to be in a welcoming community to start that process and then hopefully down the road it gets easier for you.”

Close to 1,500 people attended last year’s Bemidji Pride Festival. Even though they are happy with that number, they still want to encourage more members to engage with Bemidji Pride.

“This is our home, so we want to encourage all of the community to be there and also too our tribal nations, such as White Earth, Leech Lake, and Red Lake, because those are our Native brothers and sisters,” says Arnold Dahl-Wooley, Two-Spirit Advocacy Operator. “So we want to make sure everybody comes on over to Pride to show the support, because we need to have the visibility, the awareness, and what does that mean in the long run? It means suicide prevention, anti-bullying, and also too equality throughout the community, which we all call our home.”

The fourth annual Pride Family Festival takes place tomorrow at Rail River Folk School from 12-5 p.m. A family-friendly drag show starts rights after the festival is complete, then Bemidji Pride 2024 comes to a close with a dance party until the night’s end. More information can be found at the Bemidji Pride website or Facebook page.