About The Q Art Hour
We create transformative art experiences that empower emerging LGBTQ+ artists to find their voice and share their story.
Mission & Vision
A world where young LGBTQ+ artists can thrive and have their voices amplified.
We create transformative art experiences that empower LGBTQ+ artists (ages 16-24) to find their voice and share their story, fostering empathy and connection between artists and community.
We offer a platform where LGBTQ+ artists share deeply personal work — and audiences are invited into an immersive experience that fosters empathy, understanding, and connection.
The Q Art Hour reimagines the gallery experience as more than a place to view art — it becomes a bridge to another person's experience.
Exhibitions are designed to accomplish two objectives: offer audiences a compelling, emotionally meaningful art experience, and create a platform where emerging LGBTQ+ artists can be seen, heard, and understood through their work.
What makes The Q Art Hour unique is that the exhibition is only part of the story.
The artwork emerges from a structured creative program built for emerging LGBTQ+ artists (ages 16–24). Participants develop their artistic voice while building technical skills, confidence, and community. Through structured coaching and a targeted curriculum, artists grow not only in what they create, but in how they understand themselves and one another. The cohort becomes a support system; the learnings become a source of resilience.
The Q Art Hour exists to elevate voices that deserve to be heard —
and to create a space where those voices can be heard.
Our Why
In a time when so many conversations are reduced to headlines, The Q Art Hour creates space for something deeper:
human connection.
This is not passive viewing. It's an invitation to compassionately encounter another's lived experience.
LGBTQ+ Youth Today
A Logo Rooted in History
The Q Art Hour's logo serves as coats of arms have served clans for a millennium — each element earned and intentional.
The twisted fabric torse above the shield symbolized achievement in Ancient Greece and represents our talented artists. Its Q shape proudly claims our artists' community.
The Swiss Cross represents freedom, equality, and hospitality. Feathers represent emancipation and the freedom to be who we are. Paintbrushes celebrate human expression. Bricks symbolize a solid foundation built through knowledge, skills, and community.
A 1970s LGBTQ+ symbol representing visibility and pride — lavender as a blend of masculine blue and feminine pink, the rhino for being often misunderstood. Our rhino strikes a rampant pose, demonstrating its ability to be ferocious when threatened.
Experience. Feel. Support. Our motto reflects our objective for our impact on the community, and the journey we invite every audience member to take.
The lavender rhinoceros was chosen because it is a much maligned and misunderstood animal — and the color came from a mixture of pink and blue, a symbolic merger of the masculine and the feminine.
Who's Involved
Kelly Richardson
I believe everyone has a story. Mine is one of second chances — and of discovering a new passion in working with LGBTQ+ youth. I want them to see that they're special, strong, and beautiful, and that they're very, very loved.
Charley Burton
Charley Burton is the Founder and Executive Director of Transforming-Futures, and author of the book 'Boy Beneath My Skin: Black Transman Living in the South'.
Gregg Carbo
Professional artist in Richmond, Virginia — a VCU fine arts graduate and former art professor with exhibitions at 1708 Gallery, Page Bond Gallery, and the Reynolds Gallery.
Michael A. Pierce
Known as the "rabbit guy", Michael is a professional artist, educator, and curator based in Richmond, Virginia. A fine arts graduate of VCU, he serves on the studio arts faculty at Brightpoint Community College and has exhibited his work and curated exhibitions nationally and internationally.
Partner Organizations
Website: Snow Advisory LLC