PIETER RECEIVES INFINITE EXPANSION GRANT FROM THE MIKE KELLEY FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS

March 31st, 2025

Pieter Performance Space is thrilled to be the recipient of a 2025 Infinite Expansion Grant from The Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts. The Infinite Expansion Grant centers on experimental and thought-provoking work of artists presented by arts nonprofits in LA County. 

Supported by the Infinite Expansion Grant and other sources, Pieter will present Sissies: Something Perfect between Ourselves, an exhibition produced and co-curated by Pieter and choreographer Bernard Brown by, for, and about Black, Brown, and Indigenous Queer artists who have created spaces that feed the music, dance, fashion, and creative heartbeat of underground queer LA. Rooted in the African proverb “Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero,” this project explores a range of artistic modes—dance/performance, film/photography, fashion, and music—mediums that document Black, Brown, and Queer stories as something integral to humanity. This show focuses on Black Gay bars and clubs—sites of leisure and pleasure—and gathering places for support and political action, especially at the

onset of the gay liberation movement and the onslaught of HIV/AIDS, with Queer people of color dipping and kiki-ing through disco, R&B, techno, and house, highlighting the “lost generation” of souls whose gifts and talents continue to change our world. In 2026, this show, featuring work by Brown and collaborators Defacto x and Malachi Middleton, will honor the legacy of LA’s Black Queer parties and clubs, which have served as a home for activism, joy, and care across decades. As many of these spaces have closed and disappeared, there is a deep need to document and archive this history and build sites for expression and community.

IMAGE CREDIT: David B. Arenas, Bernard Brown in Angles, 2020. Photo by David B. Arenas. © David B. Arenas Photography © 2020 Bernard Brown, All Rights Reserved. Courtesy the David B. Arenas Photography and Bernard Brown/bbmoves