Love makes a family at the Maltz Museum

Two men, a woman and two little girls smile at each other and the camera while they sit on a cozy backyard patio. The photo of the Watson/Hutchins Family (consisting of Sgt. Kenneth Watson, his partner James Hutchins and Watson’s ex-wife Lisa and their two kids) 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 Northeast Ohio suburb of Beachwood.

The exhibition by photographer GiGi Kaeser includes pictures of families, large and small, from across the country, representing a variety of ethnicities, faiths and backgrounds. Intended to challenge myths and stereotypes of LGBTQ+ families, each photo is accompanied by a brief biography of the family taken from interviews by Peggy Gillespie.

“Love Makes a Family” is on view as part of the museum’s “A Celebration of Family” exhibition that 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 of the artist’s life.

Acceptance, respect, inclusion

“Love Makes a Family” sets out to encourage visitors “to make meaningful connections about family, acceptance and love through the lens of art and storytelling,” said Aaron Bane, the Maltz Museum’s manager of collections and exhibitions. Family-friendly interactive activities help the artworks “come to life for audiences of a wide variety of ages” and encourage conversations “about shared values and experiences.”

While the Maltz Museum’s collections primarily focuses on Jewish heritage and even includes an internationally recognized collection of Judaica, it’s not the first time it has supported the LGBTQ+ community. The museum has held events at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland and had a table at Pride in the CLE this year. In fact, celebrating diversity and showcasing minority communities are built into the museum’s mission.

“We try to be welcoming to everybody and tell many kinds of stories and to make sure that everybody feels included because a lot of the Jewish core values are really kind of universal,” said William Pearce, Maltz Museum marketing manager.

So, it’s no surprise “Love Makes a Family” was chosen to fulfill the museum’s usual summer roster of family-friendly exhibitions. The traveling exhibition, an offering from the non-profit Family Diversity Projects, “directly relates to the museum’s broader mission of acceptance, respect, and inclusion,” said Bane.

Tucked between the two exhibitions is a large area for kids where they can draw pictures of their own families, play dress up and use wooden toys to represent their own stories. A wall of photos of Northeast Ohio LGBTQ+ families by Cleveland-based photographer Bridget Caswell lends some local voices to the overall narrative.

Events complement and expand on 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 (a night of storytelling and improv 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 What’s New in Adoption? Panel Presentation (with perspectives on adoption from adoptees and both hetero and LGBTQ+ parents on Aug. 28).

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

The response so far has been great, according to Pearce, with good attendance at the exhibition’s opening and earlier events, as well positive feedback from the community and teachers who have brought their classrooms to the exhibition.

“We hope visitors will feel comfortable in our setting to explore communities that they may not be familiar with and/or have questions about,” says Lax. “The exhibition is about celebration and finding similarities instead of differences.” 🔥