This Is (Not) a Celebration: Queer Resistance, 1976/2026 reveals the history of Philadelphia’s LGBTQ+ organizing, activism, and protest during the Bicentennial through rarely seen archival materials and the work of three local artists; Scarlett DeLorme, Justin Jain, and Amy Cousins, whose work engages with these stories through a contemporary lens.

Within the civic reflection of the 250th of the United States, This Is (Not) a Celebration shifts the focus from commemoration to resistance. Organized by the William Way LGBT Community Center, artists were invited to create work in dialogue with materials from the Center’s John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives—the most extensive collection documenting the history of Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community. Scarlett DeLorme’s wet plate photography, Justin Jain’s ceramics, and Amy Cousins’ print and fiber installations insist that 1976 was not a moment of patriotic consensus, but one of queer defiance.

–Jake Foster, Curator