All Out Arts and Fresh Fruit Festival to Present LGBTQ+ Gallery Show ENGAGEMENT at HOWL! Happening

All Out Arts and the Fresh Fruit Festival has announced ENGAGEMENT: The Importance of Being – ENGAGED, a powerful multi-week fine arts exhibition featuring works by LGBTQ+ artists, opening Saturday, June 21 at HOWL! Happening: An Arturo Vega Project in the East Village.

The gallery will showcase an expansive range of media, including paintings, screen-prints, photography, video installations, sculpture, and audience-participatory assemblage, all centered around themes of engagement—in activism, identity, and intergenerational community. The exhibition runs through July 20, 2025, with public viewing Wednesdays through Sundays, 12–6 PM.

Exhibition Opening:

Saturday, June 21 | 5–8 PM
Closing Reception: Sunday, July 20 | 4–6 PM
Location: HOWL! Happening, 6 East 1st Street, NYC 10003

In addition to the visual art, the gallery will host poetry and spoken word events, along with a vital panel discussion exploring “Our artistic community reacting to the greatest attacks on our liberty in U.S. history – An intergenerational perspective.”

Curated by Heidi Russel and Eva Mueller, the exhibition will feature guest speakers including Stephanie Bonvissuto, PhD (Women’s and Gender Studies, Hunter College/Brooklyn College), with additional participants to be announced.

The show emerges from a growing trend seen in submissions to this year’s Fresh Fruit Festival: a marked concern with intergenerational solidarity, ageism, and the distinct challenges faced by aging LGBTQ+ individuals. ENGAGEMENT responds with urgency and artistry, inviting audiences to consider what it means to truly be “engaged”—politically, personally, and creatively.

About All Out Arts and the Fresh Fruit Festival:

All Out Arts is a nonprofit dedicated to fighting prejudice through the arts. Its flagship event, The Fresh Fruit Festival, is New York City’s longest-running LGBTQ+ multidisciplinary arts festival, providing a vital platform for queer voices across theatre, music, visual art, and beyond. This program is an official part of the 2025 Fresh Fruit Festival and is supported in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

About the Venue:

HOWL! Happening is a nonprofit arts space dedicated to preserving the legacy and advancing the culture of the East Village and Lower East Side. Through exhibitions and performances, it celebrates fearless artistic innovation and invites active community engagement. More info: www.howlarts.org