I’ve given tours at TOM House for almost a year—the house has been such a hub for creativity, Queerness, and sharing. It’s not just history, it’s living history, where people gather and carry on Tom’s understanding of art, community, and liberation. The house is one of a kind. It’s rare for an artist’s foundation to focus so publicly on supporting living artists, and I loved that about the Tom of Finland Foundation. Tom’s work is kept alive by the people who study it, build community through it, and create art building upon it. His work would die in storage and private collections, perhaps gaining art-world clout, but at the cost of leaving behind the audience that Tom always wanted his work to be shared with.
Giving tours at the house was some of the most rewarding work that I’ve done. People come from far and wide to see where Tom spent the last years of his life. On my last tour, a man finally completed his multiyear journey to different places Tom lived and worked. To think that his tour may be the last at the house makes me sad. People come to the house to learn about Tom, to learn about other talented artists, and to learn about themselves. There are not so many spaces left that offer such a genuine connection to some of the most significant years of gay history. We cannot afford to lose TOM House. Countless guests on my tours have expressed how profound an experience it was for them to be surrounded by history that has been excluded and devalued by the mainstream, and how validating it feels to learn about their culture in the place that it happened.
Both Queer artists and erotic artists face barriers to entry from many contemporary galleries and museums, and as a result, working artists struggle to support themselves, exactly as Tom did. I had so much respect for the foundation for stepping up to provide. Spaces to work, networking opportunities, solo shows for artists, and exposure change everything for an emerging artist. If it’s true that artist-in-residence programs will be ceasing, it is a considerable loss, one that will send a chill through the Queer contemporary art world that is already struggling. I know no equivalent to the TOM House program; every artist that I met had such a profound, life-changing experience. The amount of supportive people that they meet, and the personal liberation that they experience, is astounding. It’s worth protecting.
Overall, I want to express my profound sadness at the loss of the community at TOM House. Almost all employees have been let go, and if it’s true that the House’s programming will also cease, the Foundation is making a drastic mistake. There will never be another place like TOM House, and ensuring it (and its programs) survival should be of equal importance to promoting and preserving Tom’s work. The house is the key to a deeper understanding of Tom’s art and life.
Los Angeles
United States