The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art was created by our founders to preserve LGBTQIA+ identity and build community. Our roots trace back to 1969, when Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman held an exhibit of gay artists for the first time in their SoHo loft. Throughout the 1970s, they continued to collect and exhibit gay artists while supporting the SoHo art community. During the height of the AIDS pandemic, the collection continued to grow as they rescued the work of dying artists from families who, out of shame or ignorance, wanted to destroy it. This led to the formation of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation in 1987. In recognition of its importance in the collection and preservation of LGBTQIA+ history, the organization was accredited as a museum in 2016. Through exhibitions, public programs, publications, and its collections and library, the Museum examines the interrelationship of art and social justice in ways that provoke thought and dialogue.

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