Out/Look Preservation Fund
OUT/LOOK: National Lesbian & Gay Quarterly was a groundbreaking queer magazine published between 1987 and 1992 by the OUT/LOOK Foundation. In addition to the magazine, the organization’s staff also produced the annual OutWrite Conferences, held between 1990 and 1992. The magazine was notable for broadly inclusive subject matter and for bridging the gap between academic and creative writing. The GLBT Historical Society’s archives contain significant holdings in the OUT/LOOK Foundation Records (collection 1992-11) that document the magazine, conferences and functioning of the organization.
We are raising funds to support the digitization of the magnetic tapes in the OUT/LOOK Foundation Records, before the information they contain is lost due to degradation. The estimated cost to digitize and permanently preserve the at-risk information in this collection is $7,000.
About the OUT/LOOK FOUNDATION RECORDS
The collection contains organizational records, correspondence, board materials and meeting minutes, financial records, grant materials, circulation information, personnel records, publicity files, editorial content, production files, writings, artists’ files, conference materials and audiotapes, subject files, newsclippings, and photographs.
Click here to browse the record for the Foundation Records. To conduct research into this, or any of the over 1,000 archival collections preserved by the GLBT Historical Society, email reference@glbthistory.org.
About OUT/LOOK & The Birth of The Queer
The image in the banner photo at the top of the page, as well as those at the right, are taken from “OUT/LOOK & The Birth of The Queer.” This project, created by E.G. Crichton, included an exhibition, publication, event series and website that opened in Fall 2017 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of OUT/LOOK. It activated the OUT/LOOK archival collection by connecting new generations of artists and thinkers to the work of those who had come before them.
At the core of this project was an invitation that was issued at the start of 2017 to 38 participants to create new works in response to one of the 17 OUT/LOOK issues. This diverse group included writers, visual artists, performers, curators, activists and two organizations—all belonging to the two generations of queers that grew up since OUT/LOOK’s 5-year life span in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
Each participant was asked to dive into the OUT/LOOK archive, to think about queer history and use their matched issue as the starting point for creating something new and provocative. The work that emerged from this process was on display at an exhibition at the GLBT Historical Society Museum from October 2017 to January 2018, and in a commemorative new issue of OUT/LOOK. It continues to live on as a virtual exhibition and interactive experience at queeroutlook.com.
About the OUT/LOOK Preservation Fund
Funds raised from this program will be used to digitally preserve at-risk media within the OUT/LOOK Foundation Records (collection 1992-11) in the GLBT Historical Society’s archives. Should the funds raised exceed the needs of the project, excess funds will be used for the digitization, storage, and management of other at-risk collections.