William Way LGBT Community Center to Bring Pioneering Trans Artist Roberta Dickinson's Story to Life in Landmark Exhibition

Media Contact:
John Anderies
arts@waygay.org
215-732-2220

Supported by a William Penn Foundation grant, the exhibit explores Dickinson’s art, identity, activism, and enduring legacy

Photos live HERE

Philadelphia, PA | August 24, 2026 – The William Way LGBT Community Center and its John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives will bring the story of Philadelphia trans architect and artist Roberta Dickinson to life with Roberta Dickinson: Designing a Life, a landmark exhibition offering the first major exploration of Dickinson’s life, work, and legacy. Opening in June 2027 at Icebox Project Space in the Crane Arts Building (1400 N American St, Philadelphia, PA), the exhibit shines a long-overdue spotlight on Dickinson (1916–1982) through more than 50 of her artworks, alongside archival materials that reveal the experiences, relationships, and beliefs that shaped both Dickinson’s life and creative practice.

Through a two-year, $323,950 Arts and Culture Program Grant from the William Penn Foundation, William Way and its John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives will develop the exhibition while expanding the project beyond the gallery through public programming and a comprehensive catalog dedicated to Dickinson’s life, work, and legacy. On view through August 2027, the exhibit will explore Dickinson not only as a trans artist who documented her own gender transition, but as an architect, Quaker, anti-war activist, and deeply engaged member of her community.

"We are humbled and elated to have received this grant from the William Penn Foundation for our Roberta Dickinson project," said John Anderies, Director of the John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives. "We've dreamed of making this exhibition a reality for a while now. With this grant, it can be comprehensive and multifaceted, allowing us to dig deep into Roberta's story and to provide the kind of recognition she never received during her lifetime."

At the heart of Designing a Life will be Dickinson’s revolutionary series of self-portraits documenting her gender transition. In an artist statement, she once wrote, “This show is biographical. As a painter, I am recording the changes in my body from male to female.” Created at a time when trans artistic self-representation was exceedingly rare, the works provide an extraordinary visual record of Dickinson’s experience and remain among the most significant pieces in her body of work. While those self-portraits offer a powerful window into Dickinson’s personal journey, Designing a Life will go beyond her gender identity to paint a fuller picture of the artist and the world she inhabited. 

“Dickinson’s life and work offer a compelling historical example of creative self-determination and resilience in the face of structural barriers,” said Zach Ozma, co-curator of the exhibition and an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and citizen historian. “Though much has changed since Dickinson’s time, trans cultural production and preservation have recently been targeted with radical funding cuts, official censorship, and a broad chilling effect on artistic expression. In a recent essay in The New Yorker, Grace Byron asks, ‘Why have there been no great trans artists?’ This exhibition claims Dickinson as one of the greats.” 

Designing a Life will also reimagine a chapter of Dickinson’s artistic legacy that has been lost to time. In the early 1970s, she created a series of sculptures responding to the atrocities of the Vietnam War and the United States’ involvement in the conflict. Although the original works no longer exist, photographs and descriptions from the period preserve a record of what Dickinson created.

Through a companion project titled The Un-lost Sculptures of Roberta Dickinson, three contemporary trans artists will be commissioned to create new sculptural works that respond to archival materials, connecting Dickinson’s artistic legacy with a new generation of trans artists. The project is also supported by an Art and Change Grant awarded to Ozma by the Leeway Foundation.

The exhibition is led by co-curators Anderies and Ozma. Jake Foster, Art Exhibitions Manager at William Way, will lead exhibition design and installation alongside Metcalfe Architecture & Design and Icebox Project Space. Clancey Schoenig, Empowerment Program Coordinator, will lead the planning and execution of associated programming, with architectural advisors M.C. Overholt and Adrienne Economos-Miller also serving on the planning team.

Beyond the gallery, William Way invites audiences to engage more deeply with Dickinson’s story through a range of public programs. Plans include opening and closing receptions featuring lectures by nationally known trans historians, a roundtable discussion with individuals connected to the exhibition’s themes, and artist talks featuring the commissioned artists. Additional programming may include trans-centered figure drawing and architectural drawing workshops, curator-led tours, a self-guided walking tour of “Roberta’s Philadelphia,” and opportunities for the local trans community to use the exhibition space.

Dickinson’s story will continue to live on beyond the exhibition through a comprehensive catalog featuring essays that delve deeper into different aspects of her life and artistic practice. The publication will also function as a catalogue raisonné, documenting all known works by Dickinson and creating a lasting resource for researchers, artists, and art historians.

Additional information about exhibition dates, programming, participating artists, and related events will be announced closer to the opening. To stay up to date, visit waygay.org.

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About William Way LGBT Community Center:
The William Way LGBT Community Center has served the LGBTQIA+ community of Philadelphia and its allies since 1976. From social groups, networking events, and counseling and support services to art exhibitions and cultural experiences, the Center consistently strives to provide new and innovative programs for the  LGBTQIA+ communities throughout Greater Philadelphia. Visit www.waygay.org.