Lesbian Mapping Project
Tell the World A dyke was here
Bring the Lesbian Mapping Project To Your City
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Blank Template
Print out the blank template, write the date under "AT THIS LOCATION", then write the description of what happened to a Lesbian, and the lesson learned. Add the city or town at the bottom after "Lesbian Mapping Project: Name of Your City". Post it around town!
You're welcome to create your own template. The fonts we used:
--Dates/bold black main text: Cinzel
--Lower text and Philly map project text: Prata
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Posters to Download
Can't quite think of what to write on a blank template? No worries! Here are bunches of already-made posters to download. They have "Philadelphia" on them, but feel free to cross it out and write in your own city or town. Spread Dyke Visibility!
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Wheat Pasting
As the Lesbian Avengers said, "Wheatpasting is the activist term for adhering flat art onto outdoor establishments so that the unsuspecting community becomes a captive audience."
You'll need flour + water...
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Tag your images
Tag your posters with #lesbianmappingproject so everyone can find them.
How the Lesbian MapPing project Began
It was the Summer of 2024, and Beth Schindler, organizer extraordinaire of Dykes across the country, was coming to the Dyke+ ArtHaus for a residency.
Juno Rosenhaus, founder of the Dyke+ ArtHaus, made a list of potential project collaborations that she and Beth could do. Number 4 on the list was “wheat pasting Dyke signage”. Beth knew right away what she wanted to do.
Beth is a deep lover and fan of gay archives and they are deeply impactful in her creative practice. Seeing how our community's contribution is often focused around struggle, tragedy, and heartbreak, she wanted to shift the narrative. To showcase the Dyke community in our joy, humor, ridiculousness and simplicity. The Lesbian Mapping Project was born.
She made a template poster and wrote her first batch of scenarios such as, “An Older Femme Dyke Realized She Couldn’t Wear Heels Anymore. It Was Fine!!! She Didn’t Go Out That Much Anyway.” Once those were plastered around Philly, she opened the floodgates to have others submit their stories. A total of #20 posters went up in West Philly and the Gayborhood.
The goal of this project is to not have ownership over the idea, but to invite everyone to create their own and plaster them around any location in the world they feel inspired to memorialize their story.
…with YOU the global LMP begins…
#lesbianmappingproject
Don’t wanna wheat paste? That’s cool. Use tape, staples, whatever works!
Make it a community event by putting a call out for folks to join you in putting posters up.