By Miriam Meza –
Pride is all around the Aurora Public Library (APL) all year, but especially during June. We are happy for our events, exhibits, and participation in a city-wide event. What are they, you ask? Let’s start with First Fridays.
First Fridays’ unveiling of Proud Visions will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, June 7, at 101 S. River Street, where visitors can get a glimpse of this exhibit and enjoy refreshments and music by the Jeff Ford Quintet, brought to you by the Fox Valley Jazz Big Band from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.. Music before and after will be from a carefully-curated collection of songs from the Stonewall era.
Proud Visions is an exhibit of photos from June 17, 2018 inaugural Pride Parade in Downtown Aurora from the lenses of several photographers. The images capture the energy of an unprecedented and not wholly uncontested event. Contributing photographers include history and genealogy librarian Robb Winder, IT professional Nathan Villotti, and volunteer photographers from Indivisible Aurora, most notably Alyssa Noel and Tarin Butterfield. We have included community submissions from social media and other platforms, which will be represented throughout the exhibit in individual prints and compilation posters. A special thanks to Aurora Fastprint, which worked patiently with us to preserve the vivid colors, textures, and contours of this unconventionally-curated collection. “We are so excited for our community to see this photo exhibit, because it really captures a joyfulness and energy that is so much fun to relive!” said Krista Danis, events and program coordinator for the Aurora Public Library.
Although the bulk of Proud Visions will be displayed in the Santori Library Atrium space, pieces of the collection will be available for viewing at the Eola Road Branch and West Branch.
The festivities will continue throughout the weekend with a visit by Andrew E. Stoner, author of The Journalist of Castro Street: The Life of Randy Shilts, which gives chronicles an Aurora the life of an Aurora legend in the 1980s gay liberation movement. This event will start at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 8. Register online at aurora.libnet.info/events for a chance to win a copy of this unprecedented and significant biography!
Santori will be host Sunday, June 9 to the Proud Visions photo exhibit. Don’t forget we have started Summer hours and no longer will be open on Sundays, therefore library services will not be available. Santori Library’s atrium will open at 11 a.m. prior to the Pride parade and stay open as a cooling center and watering hole throughout the event until 2 p.m.. In the meantime, stop at the Pride parade and wave hello to our staff members and bookmobile.
Don’t forget to snap a photo or two of the candid moments at the parade for you to share your own proud visions! We are hoping to continue this exhibit as a living tradition, so if you are interested in participating as a photographer next year, please submit high resolution photos, preferably sized 8” x 10” or larger, to kdanis@aurorapubliclibrary.org. Happy Pride!
Miriam Meza is communications manager for Aurora Public Library.