A Brooklyn-based interior designer has launched a weeklong art and objects raffle over Instagram to raise money for organizations that serve BIPOC and LGBTQ+ people.
One month ago, Adrian Manuel put out a call on his Instagram for donations of furniture, art, and home goods for the Queer Art & Design Raffle, which runs through August 8. The donated pieces are all made by artists and designers who identify as LGBTQ+. His inspiration, he told Surface, was other design raffles that supported racial justice organizations after the killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests. Manuel noticed none of the raffles specifically supported queer or trans BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) groups, so he decided to do a fundraiser for organizations that serve these people.
At first, it was just Manuel and a few friends, but a number of designers outside his network have now donated to the raffle.
Some of the featured furniture items include lilac Ladies in Purple plant stands (pictured at top) by Brooklyn-based Sophie Collé, and DeStool (above), a yellow-legged chair by Atlanta-based furniture designer Nifemi Ogunro. Among the photographs in the show is Nicolas Bloise’s Love Room #3, part of a series in which the San Francisco–based artist poses alone in kitschy rent-by-the-hour love motel rooms.
If you’re ready to raffle, items will be listed in Manuel’s feed posts daily until Saturday, August 8. A $15 donation buys one entry, but there’s no limit on the number of $15 donations an individual can make. Donations can be made via Venmo (@queerartanddesign) or PayPal (link here). When Venmo-ing, Manuel asked that donors leave their email in the transaction’s comment box with the item number of the item(s) up for grabs.
Proceeds go to For the Gworls, a fund that assists Black trans people with rent and gender-affirmation surgery, and to the Transgender Law Center, a trans-led nonprofit that advocates for the rights of trans and gender-nonconforming people.