Love makes a family at the Maltz Museum

July 22, 2024

Two men, a woman and two little girls smile at each other and the camera while sitting on a cozy backyard patio. The photo of the Watson/Hutchins family (consisting of Sergeant Kenneth Watson, his partner James Hutchins, and Watson’s ex-wife Lisa and their two children) is just one of over 40 photos in the exhibition “Love Makes a Family: Portraits of LGBTQ+ People and Their Families” at the Maltz Museum in the northeastern Ohio suburb of Beachwood.

Photographer GiGi Kaeser’s exhibition includes images of families large and small from across the country, representing a variety of ethnicities, faiths and backgrounds. To challenge myths and stereotypes of LGBTQ+ families, each photo is accompanied by a brief biography of the family, drawn from interviews by Peggy Gillespie.

“Love Makes a Family” is part of the museum’s exhibition “A Celebration of Family,” which runs through September 2. The other exhibition in the series is “Growing Up Jewish – Art & Storytelling” by Jacqueline Kott-Wolle, a series of vibrant paintings from the artist’s life.

Acceptance, respect, inclusion

“Love Makes a Family” is designed to inspire visitors to “make meaningful connections about family, acceptance and love through the lens of art and stories,” says Aaron Bane, director of collections and exhibitions at the Maltz Museum. Family-friendly interactive activities help bring the artwork “to life for visitors of all ages” and encourage conversations “about shared values and experiences.”

While the Maltz Museum’s collections focus primarily on Jewish heritage and even include an internationally recognized collection of Judaica, this isn’t the first time it’s supported the LGBTQ+ community. The museum has hosted events at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland and had a booth at Pride in the CLE this year. In fact, celebrating diversity and showcasing minority communities is integral to the museum’s mission.

“We try to be welcoming to everyone, to tell many different stories and to make sure everyone feels included, because many of the core Jewish values are actually universal,” says William Pearce, marketing manager for the Maltz Museum.

So it’s no surprise that “Love Makes a Family” was chosen as part of the museum’s usual summer program of family-friendly exhibitions. The traveling exhibit, a offering from the nonprofit Family Diversity Projects, “is directly related to the museum’s broader mission of acceptance, respect and inclusion,” Bane said.

Between the two exhibits is a large area for children to paint pictures of their own families, dress up, and use wooden toys to act out their own stories. A wall of photos of Northeast Ohio LGBTQ+ families by Cleveland-based photographer Bridget Caswell adds some local voices to the overall narrative.

Events complement and expand the exhibition

“Love Makes a Family” is the springboard for a variety of LGBTQ+ events at the museum this summer, including This Improvised Life: LGBTQ+ Voices (an evening of storytelling and improvisation on July 10), Proud To Be Me: Family Flag Day (an interactive craft event for families led by the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland on August 18), and a panel discussion on “What’s New in Adoption?” (featuring perspectives on adoption from adoptees and both straight and LGBTQ+ parents on August 28).

The events “correlate with the themes of the exhibition and the overall feeling of celebrating both communities,” said Marianne Lax, senior manager of education and outreach at the Maltz Museum. “We offer a mix of educational programs to help the broader public understand the LGBTQ+ community and provide a safe forum to ask questions.” According to Lax, the Maltz Museum will continue to offer more LGBTQ+-specific programs in the future.

The response so far has been great, Pearce said. The opening of the exhibition and previous events were well attended, and there has also been positive feedback from the community and teachers who have brought their classes to the exhibition.

“We hope that visitors will feel comfortable in our environment and explore communities they may not know and/or have questions about,” says Lax. “The exhibition is about finding commonalities rather than differences.” 🔥