Nick Vaughan & Jake Margolin are the Momentary’s first virtual resident artists. Over the course of a week (April 27 – May 4), Nick and Jake have continued developing their Arkansas-centered project, The Ballad(s) of Jesse. Part of their 50 States Project, The Ballad(s) of Jesse is inspired by a Harrison-based, 1920s interracial same-sex couple and explores the murkiness of queer histories that have been casually or intentionally erased. In this work-in-process showing, Nick and Jake will be joined by one of their collaborators, New Orleans-based artist, free feral, to discuss the developments of this virtual residency.

This online event is free but you must register to attend.

Live, closed captioning available.

The Ballad(s) of Jesse (50 States: Arkansas)

About the 50 States Project

Nick Vaughan & Jake Margolin’s 50 States Project is a series of 50 installations that connect instances of queer life from each state’s pre-Stonewall history to contemporary regional queer experiences, to be completed over the next four decades. This multi-decade endeavor draws from recent groundbreaking academic work, the artists’ own archival research, and significant time spent learning from and collaborating with local queer communities and community members.

About the Artists

Nick & Jake are Houston-based interdisciplinary artists and a married couple. They have had solo shows at the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art, the Invisible Dog Art Center (NYC), Art League Houston, Aurora Picture Show (Houston), and Devin Borden Gallery (Houston). They have presented performative artist lectures at the Alley Theatre (Houston) and Hartford Stage. Recent exhibitions in LGBT community spaces include Tahlequah, Oklahoma’s 2018 pride festival and gay bars in Houston.

They are recipients of a NYFA Fellowship, a Tulsa Artist Fellowship, and grants from the IdeaFund, the Houston Arts Alliance, and Mid America Arts Alliance, Nick & Jake received a 2013 MAPFund grant for their HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP) project. A MARRIAGE: 1 (SUBURBIA).

Nick & Jake are members of the theater company The TEAM with whom they have created six devised works, and they frequently collaborate as visual designers with choreographers Faye Driscoll and Yoshiko Chuma.

• This work-in-progress showing is the result of our first performing arts residency, and our first virtual residency
• Nick and Jake’s work takes pre-Stonewall queer history and connects it to contemporary queer experiences