BK Art Exhibit Made With Blood Confronts Ban On LGBTQ Donors

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — An art exhibit featuring the blood of LGBTQ people restricted from donating despite a national blood shortage is headed to Crown Heights.

The art installation — featuring blood preserved in resin panels — will debut Friday at the Major R. Owens Health and Wellness Community Center, which opened last year in the former Bedford Union Armory.

A blood drive hosted by the New York Blood Center will happen alongside the event in the Brooklyn Pride Community Pride Center's headquarters at the building.

“My hope is that the project will continue to shine a spotlight on the continued discrimination that prevents the LGBTQ+ community from donating blood and, at the same time, provide an opportunity to bring people together with a blood drive to help save lives in a tangible way,” the artist Jordan Eagles said.

The "Our Blood Can Save" event will confront the Food and Drug Administration's policies that restrict sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating blood, despite an ongoing shortage caused by the pandemic.

The blood — donated by gay, bisexual and queer men — will be on view in resin panels and presented in an "immersive light-based installation" in the Betty Carter Auditorium.

Also on view will be a 1943 poster soliciting blood that connects to the historical racial segregation of blood and a spot where viewers can volunteer to have their portrait taken in an act of solidarity.

Here's what to know about the exhibit:

WHERE: Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Center, 1561 Bedford Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11225

WHEN:

• Our Blood Can Save — open to the public March 4 - 5, 2022 from 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.
• Blood drive — Friday, March 4, 2022 from 2 p.m. – 8 p.m.. You can find the appointment link HERE.

WHAT:

• A collection of blood donated by LGBTQ+ individuals preserved in resin, and imaged blood panels, carefully placed on overhead projectors illuminating the blood’s light shadows and patterns onto the walls, ceiling, architecture and viewers in the space.
• A central projection featuring a 1943 WWII poster graphic soliciting blood donations. This vintage graphic connects to the historical innovations of blood storage—invented during WWII—by the prominent Black surgeon and researcher Dr. Charles R. Drew. Dr. Drew’s blood storage techniques were used as part of a successful program to collect blood in New York City hospitals and export the plasma to the Allied forces in Europe. However, Dr. Drew eventually resigned his position in protest over the racial segregation of blood. This panel is preserved with blood donated by an active U.S. Service Member who identifies as transgender and pansexual, raising questions about the problematic role of gender identification in blood donation policy. The image also connects to the history of The Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Center’s history as a former Armory.

• Our Blood Can Save serves as a participatory gathering in which viewers are invited to have their portrait taken by the artist with blood patterns projected onto them—a gesture of solidarity with the movement against the FDA’s discriminatory policy and the participants willingness to receive blood from the LGBTQ+ community should they ever need a transfusion.