Grantee Database

Chrysalis Studio/Queer Ancestors Project

Grant Year

2026-27

Grant Program

General Operating Support

Award Amount

$24,000.00

Project Description

With support from the California Arts Council, Chrysalis/Queer Ancestors Project will sustain free, year-round arts programming for transitional age LGBTQ2S+ artists, centering QTBIPOC. Funds will support teaching artists, participant materials and stipends, accessibility, exhibitions, readings, artist panels, and community print events.

During the grant period, Chrysalis will offer four workshop series: 18-week visual storytelling and queer printmaking program; 17-week Kaleidoscope literary workshop with Still Here San Francisco exploring identity and memory; 18-week printmaking series focused on interdisciplinary art and activism; and 4-week Comix workshop in the spirit and tradition of resistance.

QAP programs culminate in public exhibitions, artist panels, literary readings, and community print events that bring emerging artists’ work into wider public view. Our exhibitions and readings provide a window on the past through which the larger community can glimpse our collective future.

Organization Summary

Please use Version 3 from GENOP:
Chrysalis Studio’s core programs center the Queer Ancestors Project (QAP), a year-round set of free printmaking and literary workshops, exhibitions, public events, and artist development opportunities for LGBTQ2S+ emerging artists. Across all QAP programs, participants move through a shared arc: they study queer and trans ancestors, build artistic skills, create new work, share that work publicly, and become part of an intergenerational creative community that continues beyond the workshop.
Chrysalis offers four QAP programs. QAP PRINTS! is an annual 19-week printmaking workshop in visual storytelling and queer ancestry which culminates in an exhibition and artist panel at STRUT that drew 440+ attendees in 2026.
QAP Kaleidoscope, developed with Still Here San Francisco, is a literary workshop that deepens intergenerational connection through writing, mentorship, and public sharing. In 2025, a showcase at San Francisco Public Library’s Hormel Center featured young writers reflecting on ancestors such as Audre Lorde and Gloria Anzaldúa, welcoming 175+ attendees.
QAP RESISTS! supports emerging artists in creating political posters on issues including prison abolition, transgender rights, climate justice, and immigrant justice. In 2025, our Under Pressure community print party at SOMArts welcomed 225+ attendees, distributing posters and apparel carrying artist-designed messages into the world. Attendees chose art to be printed on their shirts, for free.
QAP Comix expands storytelling through comics and visual narrative. Together, these programs support artistic growth, public presentation, intergenerational learning, leadership development, and community building for emerging LGBTQ2S+ artists. One participant reflected, “This workshop helped me find community when I was struggling, provided me with a space to grow my art skills and connect with my ancestors. This is a space where I feel at peace.”

Organization

Chrysalis Studio/Queer Ancestors Project

Address

934 Brannan Street

San Francisco

94103

County

San Francisco

Region

Bay Area – San Francisco

Website

Email

Congressional District

California's 12th congressional district

State Assembly District

District 17

State Senate District

District 11

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