Instagram Story Viewer

Del Vaz Projects is honored to be the recipient of a generous board-directed grant from the Teiger Foundation—an investment in our evolving vision and future work. Our deepest thanks to Joel Wachs for his nomination and the entire Teiger Foundation board, John Silberman, Kati Lovaas, Yasmin Raymond, and Zoé Whitley, for this meaningful support.

@teigerfoundation
#teigerfoundation
#delvazprojects

On World AIDS Day and Visual AIDS’ Day With(out) Art, we honor the artists and communities whose radiance was cut short by the AIDS crisis—a generation of visionaries whose work still shapes how we see, feel, and make. At Del Vaz Projects, this dedication is ongoing: from revisiting Paul Thek, to presenting the unflinching vision of Derek Jarman, to our forthcoming project “Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven,” celebrating an artist who created through the AIDS era—transforming life, body, and spirit into radical acts of imagination.

The artists we lost, and those who survived beside them, built counter-worlds: networks of friendship, sensuality, and creativity. In the face of crisis, Steven Arnold insisted on beauty, tenderness, and the right to be seen. His films, drawings, and photographs remain maps for the present.

HIV continues to take lives globally, disproportionately harming communities already made vulnerable. Under an administration that will not commemorate World AIDS Day for the first time since 1988—and has defunded USAID—the world must be reminded that the crisis isn’t over and that there is now so much more work to be done.

In the face of so much darkness—of grief, devastation, and the systemic destruction—both past and present—brought on by willful ignorance and erasure, we recall a poem from Remy Charlip’s playbill for “Amaterasu” (1988) at MoCA, for which Steven designed sets and costumes:

O HEAVEN ALARMING FEMALE AUGUSTNESS
LURE ME OUT OF MY CAVE WITH YOUR OBSCENE DANCE AND YOUR FRIVOLOUS WAYS
FOOL ME
TRICK ME INTO THE WORLD AGAIN
MAKE ME PEEK
THROUGH THE CHINK IN THE ROCK
AND GET ME TO SHED MY RADIANCE
ON THE WORLD AGAIN
THE WORLD CAN USE MY LIGHT
BUT MORE IMPORTANT
I NEED TO SHINE AGAIN

_

Steven Arnold (1943–1994) was a visionary multidisciplinary artist working across drawing, photography, film, theater, performance, costume, and set design. A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA ’66; MFA ’69), his odyssey spanned San Francisco, New York, Spain, and Los Angeles—where he founded Zanzabar. Diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, he died in 1994.

“Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven” opens at Del Vaz Projects in February 2026

On World AIDS Day and Visual AIDS’ Day With(out) Art, we honor the artists and communities whose radiance was cut short by the AIDS crisis—a generation of visionaries whose work still shapes how we see, feel, and make. At Del Vaz Projects, this dedication is ongoing: from revisiting Paul Thek, to presenting the unflinching vision of Derek Jarman, to our forthcoming project “Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven,” celebrating an artist who created through the AIDS era—transforming life, body, and spirit into radical acts of imagination.

The artists we lost, and those who survived beside them, built counter-worlds: networks of friendship, sensuality, and creativity. In the face of crisis, Steven Arnold insisted on beauty, tenderness, and the right to be seen. His films, drawings, and photographs remain maps for the present.

HIV continues to take lives globally, disproportionately harming communities already made vulnerable. Under an administration that will not commemorate World AIDS Day for the first time since 1988—and has defunded USAID—the world must be reminded that the crisis isn’t over and that there is now so much more work to be done.

In the face of so much darkness—of grief, devastation, and the systemic destruction—both past and present—brought on by willful ignorance and erasure, we recall a poem from Remy Charlip’s playbill for “Amaterasu” (1988) at MoCA, for which Steven designed sets and costumes:

O HEAVEN ALARMING FEMALE AUGUSTNESS
LURE ME OUT OF MY CAVE WITH YOUR OBSCENE DANCE AND YOUR FRIVOLOUS WAYS
FOOL ME
TRICK ME INTO THE WORLD AGAIN
MAKE ME PEEK
THROUGH THE CHINK IN THE ROCK
AND GET ME TO SHED MY RADIANCE
ON THE WORLD AGAIN
THE WORLD CAN USE MY LIGHT
BUT MORE IMPORTANT
I NEED TO SHINE AGAIN

_

Steven Arnold (1943–1994) was a visionary multidisciplinary artist working across drawing, photography, film, theater, performance, costume, and set design. A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA ’66; MFA ’69), his odyssey spanned San Francisco, New York, Spain, and Los Angeles—where he founded Zanzabar. Diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, he died in 1994.

“Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven” opens at Del Vaz Projects in February 2026

On World AIDS Day and Visual AIDS’ Day With(out) Art, we honor the artists and communities whose radiance was cut short by the AIDS crisis—a generation of visionaries whose work still shapes how we see, feel, and make. At Del Vaz Projects, this dedication is ongoing: from revisiting Paul Thek, to presenting the unflinching vision of Derek Jarman, to our forthcoming project “Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven,” celebrating an artist who created through the AIDS era—transforming life, body, and spirit into radical acts of imagination.

The artists we lost, and those who survived beside them, built counter-worlds: networks of friendship, sensuality, and creativity. In the face of crisis, Steven Arnold insisted on beauty, tenderness, and the right to be seen. His films, drawings, and photographs remain maps for the present.

HIV continues to take lives globally, disproportionately harming communities already made vulnerable. Under an administration that will not commemorate World AIDS Day for the first time since 1988—and has defunded USAID—the world must be reminded that the crisis isn’t over and that there is now so much more work to be done.

In the face of so much darkness—of grief, devastation, and the systemic destruction—both past and present—brought on by willful ignorance and erasure, we recall a poem from Remy Charlip’s playbill for “Amaterasu” (1988) at MoCA, for which Steven designed sets and costumes:

O HEAVEN ALARMING FEMALE AUGUSTNESS
LURE ME OUT OF MY CAVE WITH YOUR OBSCENE DANCE AND YOUR FRIVOLOUS WAYS
FOOL ME
TRICK ME INTO THE WORLD AGAIN
MAKE ME PEEK
THROUGH THE CHINK IN THE ROCK
AND GET ME TO SHED MY RADIANCE
ON THE WORLD AGAIN
THE WORLD CAN USE MY LIGHT
BUT MORE IMPORTANT
I NEED TO SHINE AGAIN

_

Steven Arnold (1943–1994) was a visionary multidisciplinary artist working across drawing, photography, film, theater, performance, costume, and set design. A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA ’66; MFA ’69), his odyssey spanned San Francisco, New York, Spain, and Los Angeles—where he founded Zanzabar. Diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, he died in 1994.

“Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven” opens at Del Vaz Projects in February 2026

On World AIDS Day and Visual AIDS’ Day With(out) Art, we honor the artists and communities whose radiance was cut short by the AIDS crisis—a generation of visionaries whose work still shapes how we see, feel, and make. At Del Vaz Projects, this dedication is ongoing: from revisiting Paul Thek, to presenting the unflinching vision of Derek Jarman, to our forthcoming project “Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven,” celebrating an artist who created through the AIDS era—transforming life, body, and spirit into radical acts of imagination.

The artists we lost, and those who survived beside them, built counter-worlds: networks of friendship, sensuality, and creativity. In the face of crisis, Steven Arnold insisted on beauty, tenderness, and the right to be seen. His films, drawings, and photographs remain maps for the present.

HIV continues to take lives globally, disproportionately harming communities already made vulnerable. Under an administration that will not commemorate World AIDS Day for the first time since 1988—and has defunded USAID—the world must be reminded that the crisis isn’t over and that there is now so much more work to be done.

In the face of so much darkness—of grief, devastation, and the systemic destruction—both past and present—brought on by willful ignorance and erasure, we recall a poem from Remy Charlip’s playbill for “Amaterasu” (1988) at MoCA, for which Steven designed sets and costumes:

O HEAVEN ALARMING FEMALE AUGUSTNESS
LURE ME OUT OF MY CAVE WITH YOUR OBSCENE DANCE AND YOUR FRIVOLOUS WAYS
FOOL ME
TRICK ME INTO THE WORLD AGAIN
MAKE ME PEEK
THROUGH THE CHINK IN THE ROCK
AND GET ME TO SHED MY RADIANCE
ON THE WORLD AGAIN
THE WORLD CAN USE MY LIGHT
BUT MORE IMPORTANT
I NEED TO SHINE AGAIN

_

Steven Arnold (1943–1994) was a visionary multidisciplinary artist working across drawing, photography, film, theater, performance, costume, and set design. A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA ’66; MFA ’69), his odyssey spanned San Francisco, New York, Spain, and Los Angeles—where he founded Zanzabar. Diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, he died in 1994.

“Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven” opens at Del Vaz Projects in February 2026

On World AIDS Day and Visual AIDS’ Day With(out) Art, we honor the artists and communities whose radiance was cut short by the AIDS crisis—a generation of visionaries whose work still shapes how we see, feel, and make. At Del Vaz Projects, this dedication is ongoing: from revisiting Paul Thek, to presenting the unflinching vision of Derek Jarman, to our forthcoming project “Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven,” celebrating an artist who created through the AIDS era—transforming life, body, and spirit into radical acts of imagination.

The artists we lost, and those who survived beside them, built counter-worlds: networks of friendship, sensuality, and creativity. In the face of crisis, Steven Arnold insisted on beauty, tenderness, and the right to be seen. His films, drawings, and photographs remain maps for the present.

HIV continues to take lives globally, disproportionately harming communities already made vulnerable. Under an administration that will not commemorate World AIDS Day for the first time since 1988—and has defunded USAID—the world must be reminded that the crisis isn’t over and that there is now so much more work to be done.

In the face of so much darkness—of grief, devastation, and the systemic destruction—both past and present—brought on by willful ignorance and erasure, we recall a poem from Remy Charlip’s playbill for “Amaterasu” (1988) at MoCA, for which Steven designed sets and costumes:

O HEAVEN ALARMING FEMALE AUGUSTNESS
LURE ME OUT OF MY CAVE WITH YOUR OBSCENE DANCE AND YOUR FRIVOLOUS WAYS
FOOL ME
TRICK ME INTO THE WORLD AGAIN
MAKE ME PEEK
THROUGH THE CHINK IN THE ROCK
AND GET ME TO SHED MY RADIANCE
ON THE WORLD AGAIN
THE WORLD CAN USE MY LIGHT
BUT MORE IMPORTANT
I NEED TO SHINE AGAIN

_

Steven Arnold (1943–1994) was a visionary multidisciplinary artist working across drawing, photography, film, theater, performance, costume, and set design. A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA ’66; MFA ’69), his odyssey spanned San Francisco, New York, Spain, and Los Angeles—where he founded Zanzabar. Diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, he died in 1994.

“Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven” opens at Del Vaz Projects in February 2026

On World AIDS Day and Visual AIDS’ Day With(out) Art, we honor the artists and communities whose radiance was cut short by the AIDS crisis—a generation of visionaries whose work still shapes how we see, feel, and make. At Del Vaz Projects, this dedication is ongoing: from revisiting Paul Thek, to presenting the unflinching vision of Derek Jarman, to our forthcoming project “Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven,” celebrating an artist who created through the AIDS era—transforming life, body, and spirit into radical acts of imagination.

The artists we lost, and those who survived beside them, built counter-worlds: networks of friendship, sensuality, and creativity. In the face of crisis, Steven Arnold insisted on beauty, tenderness, and the right to be seen. His films, drawings, and photographs remain maps for the present.

HIV continues to take lives globally, disproportionately harming communities already made vulnerable. Under an administration that will not commemorate World AIDS Day for the first time since 1988—and has defunded USAID—the world must be reminded that the crisis isn’t over and that there is now so much more work to be done.

In the face of so much darkness—of grief, devastation, and the systemic destruction—both past and present—brought on by willful ignorance and erasure, we recall a poem from Remy Charlip’s playbill for “Amaterasu” (1988) at MoCA, for which Steven designed sets and costumes:

O HEAVEN ALARMING FEMALE AUGUSTNESS
LURE ME OUT OF MY CAVE WITH YOUR OBSCENE DANCE AND YOUR FRIVOLOUS WAYS
FOOL ME
TRICK ME INTO THE WORLD AGAIN
MAKE ME PEEK
THROUGH THE CHINK IN THE ROCK
AND GET ME TO SHED MY RADIANCE
ON THE WORLD AGAIN
THE WORLD CAN USE MY LIGHT
BUT MORE IMPORTANT
I NEED TO SHINE AGAIN

_

Steven Arnold (1943–1994) was a visionary multidisciplinary artist working across drawing, photography, film, theater, performance, costume, and set design. A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA ’66; MFA ’69), his odyssey spanned San Francisco, New York, Spain, and Los Angeles—where he founded Zanzabar. Diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, he died in 1994.

“Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven” opens at Del Vaz Projects in February 2026

With great excitement, Del Vaz Projects announces that we are recipients of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ Multi-year Program Support. Over a two-year period, this grant will allow us to nurture and expand the four core initiatives that comprise the foundation of our non-profit art space: a curatorial platform, research collective, independent press, and artist production fund. Through these programs, we are able to support and platform a diverse community of artists, writers, workers, and thinkers—innovators whose voices enrich the cultural fabric of Los Angeles. The funds from this grant will go directly towards producing our 2025–2026 program, which will include exhibitions Earthshaker: Ana Mendieta, Derek Jarman & P. Staff and Steven Arnold: Sex & Spirit.

In our second decade, we are determined to use this grant to continue to stage exhibitions and programs that are both intimate and trailblazing—providing artists and estates with unique and daring opportunities to amplify their practice, audience, and legacy. We will also use these funds to intentionally grow our institutional partnerships, advisory board, and extraordinary team.

The avant-garde model for our organization would not be possible without the base of our space in Santa Monica—the gallery, library, apothecary, and garden situated within our own home. Here, we welcome our diverse community of supporters to have conversations, share meals, and imagine projects together. Ten years since our founding, we remain so grateful for your seminal voices, perspectives, and participation, without which we could not have received this grant. In this precious time for Los Angeles, as we rebuild communities and neighborhoods affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires, we feel investment in grassroots organizations is more essential than ever. With the support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, we will persist as a beacon of artistic freedom in our city.

#WarholFoundation #WarholGrantee @warholfoundation
#AnaMendieta #DerekJarman #PStaff @anamendietaartist @p___staff
#StevenArnold @stevenarnoldarchive
#delvazprojects @delvazprojects

ABSOLUT ARNOLD.
A Steven Arnold megamix by Scott Ewalt @scottewaltnyc
SoundCloud link in bio !

On the occasion of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, artist and DJ Scott Ewalt pays homage to Arnold in a megamix inspired by their friendship and the artist’s campaign ABSOLUT ARNOLD—a commissioned advertisement for @absolutvodka starring Ewalt published in The Advocate in 1992.

In 1992, Steven Arnold was invited to participate in Absolut Symbols, a poster campaign begun in the 1980s, for which queer artists—among them Andy Warhol, Nicole Eisenman, Keith Haring, Monica Majoli, and Ian Falconer—were commissioned were commissioned to design advertisements that would be sold to raise funds for LGBTQ and AIDS-related charities. Arnold’s ad—featured in The Advocate—was a portrait of Scott Ewalt, the artist, DJ, and nightlife luminary. Photographed in the signature style of Arnold’s tableaux-vivant portraits, the image depicts Ewalt with his hair sculpted into a bottle top, eyes heavy with false eyelashes, lips cracked in a snarling grin, chest bare and hairy, hands draped in black gloves, wrist dripping with jewels, and fingers clasping a colossal martini glass.

In the 2019 documentary Heavenly Bodies, directed by Vishnu Dass @vishnudass1008, the Director of the Steven Arnold Archives, Ewalt expressed:

“There was this thing going on in the late 80s with so many people dying, especially in the early 90s in Los Angeles, where the connection between queer generations was dissolving and it was such a big part of the education of gay men during the last hundred years that the older man would teach them the ropes and the aesthetics. And because we were considered to be kind of subhuman, everyone always had to overcompensate with their intellect, their ability to design things, their knowledge on obscure subjects. And I think that Steven was born of that generation, and so he was trying to pass that knowledge on to about a dozen of us who were all in our early twenties, who were eager to learn this.”

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven at Del Vaz Projects on view through June 6, 2026

ABSOLUT ARNOLD.
A Steven Arnold megamix by Scott Ewalt @scottewaltnyc
SoundCloud link in bio !

On the occasion of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, artist and DJ Scott Ewalt pays homage to Arnold in a megamix inspired by their friendship and the artist’s campaign ABSOLUT ARNOLD—a commissioned advertisement for @absolutvodka starring Ewalt published in The Advocate in 1992.

In 1992, Steven Arnold was invited to participate in Absolut Symbols, a poster campaign begun in the 1980s, for which queer artists—among them Andy Warhol, Nicole Eisenman, Keith Haring, Monica Majoli, and Ian Falconer—were commissioned were commissioned to design advertisements that would be sold to raise funds for LGBTQ and AIDS-related charities. Arnold’s ad—featured in The Advocate—was a portrait of Scott Ewalt, the artist, DJ, and nightlife luminary. Photographed in the signature style of Arnold’s tableaux-vivant portraits, the image depicts Ewalt with his hair sculpted into a bottle top, eyes heavy with false eyelashes, lips cracked in a snarling grin, chest bare and hairy, hands draped in black gloves, wrist dripping with jewels, and fingers clasping a colossal martini glass.

In the 2019 documentary Heavenly Bodies, directed by Vishnu Dass @vishnudass1008, the Director of the Steven Arnold Archives, Ewalt expressed:

“There was this thing going on in the late 80s with so many people dying, especially in the early 90s in Los Angeles, where the connection between queer generations was dissolving and it was such a big part of the education of gay men during the last hundred years that the older man would teach them the ropes and the aesthetics. And because we were considered to be kind of subhuman, everyone always had to overcompensate with their intellect, their ability to design things, their knowledge on obscure subjects. And I think that Steven was born of that generation, and so he was trying to pass that knowledge on to about a dozen of us who were all in our early twenties, who were eager to learn this.”

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven at Del Vaz Projects on view through June 6, 2026

ABSOLUT ARNOLD.
A Steven Arnold megamix by Scott Ewalt @scottewaltnyc
SoundCloud link in bio !

On the occasion of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, artist and DJ Scott Ewalt pays homage to Arnold in a megamix inspired by their friendship and the artist’s campaign ABSOLUT ARNOLD—a commissioned advertisement for @absolutvodka starring Ewalt published in The Advocate in 1992.

In 1992, Steven Arnold was invited to participate in Absolut Symbols, a poster campaign begun in the 1980s, for which queer artists—among them Andy Warhol, Nicole Eisenman, Keith Haring, Monica Majoli, and Ian Falconer—were commissioned were commissioned to design advertisements that would be sold to raise funds for LGBTQ and AIDS-related charities. Arnold’s ad—featured in The Advocate—was a portrait of Scott Ewalt, the artist, DJ, and nightlife luminary. Photographed in the signature style of Arnold’s tableaux-vivant portraits, the image depicts Ewalt with his hair sculpted into a bottle top, eyes heavy with false eyelashes, lips cracked in a snarling grin, chest bare and hairy, hands draped in black gloves, wrist dripping with jewels, and fingers clasping a colossal martini glass.

In the 2019 documentary Heavenly Bodies, directed by Vishnu Dass @vishnudass1008, the Director of the Steven Arnold Archives, Ewalt expressed:

“There was this thing going on in the late 80s with so many people dying, especially in the early 90s in Los Angeles, where the connection between queer generations was dissolving and it was such a big part of the education of gay men during the last hundred years that the older man would teach them the ropes and the aesthetics. And because we were considered to be kind of subhuman, everyone always had to overcompensate with their intellect, their ability to design things, their knowledge on obscure subjects. And I think that Steven was born of that generation, and so he was trying to pass that knowledge on to about a dozen of us who were all in our early twenties, who were eager to learn this.”

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven at Del Vaz Projects on view through June 6, 2026

A few clips from an interview by Bill Franklin, Instructor at FIDM, along with students, of Steven Arnold at Zanzabar.

Walk-in visits are today, and every Saturday, from 1-4 PM until June 6, 2026.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

A few clips from an interview by Bill Franklin, Instructor at FIDM, along with students, of Steven Arnold at Zanzabar.

Walk-in visits are today, and every Saturday, from 1-4 PM until June 6, 2026.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

A few clips from an interview by Bill Franklin, Instructor at FIDM, along with students, of Steven Arnold at Zanzabar.

Walk-in visits are today, and every Saturday, from 1-4 PM until June 6, 2026.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

A few clips from an interview by Bill Franklin, Instructor at FIDM, along with students, of Steven Arnold at Zanzabar.

Walk-in visits are today, and every Saturday, from 1-4 PM until June 6, 2026.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is extended through June 6, 2026. Walk-in visits are this Saturday, and every Saturday, from 1-4 PM.

Images: “Gomorrah Borealis” A Fashion Ballet written and directed by Steven Arnold, featuring the warm weather collection by Harry Parnass and Nicola Pelly at their store Parachute on Melrose Avenue, 1984.

From the Los Angeles Reader review “Theatrical Dressings” by William Franklin:

The clothes were certainly not the thing in Parachute’s fantasy un­ veiling of its fall line at the Palace last week. The cotton separates, Kabuki-inspired belt­ ings, and oversized detachable pocket solutions were almost completely upstaged by the cre­ ative vision of Steven Arnold, one of Los Angeles’s most iconoclastic forces.
The theatrically choreo­graphed fashion extravaganza, billed as Gomorrah Borealis, was written and directed by Arnold, whose cosmic other-worldliness alluded to ancient rituals and mythical dream states. His tribal masks, pyra­ mid-shaped headpieces, and Cocteau-like set underscored a sense of the mystical, the rites of passage that transcend temporary cultural moorings. Gomorrah Borealis was popu­ lated by the disciplined troops of the Los Angeles Ballet, who responded with brio to Jennifer Narin-Smith’s hypnotic choreography.
The entire event pivoted around a musical score culled from epic chariot films of the fifties and sixties, including the Ten Commandments and Ben Hur.
The SRO crowd ranged from colorful paste-and bauble glam queens to handsome Capri­-panted young mensporting tuxedo shirts and Egyptian eye makeup. By comparison, Para­ chute’s fall line of simple cotton coordinates faded into the background, eclipsed by Arnold’s innovative theatrics and a fascinating collection the city’s most fashionable cognoscenti.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is extended through June 6, 2026. Walk-in visits are this Saturday, and every Saturday, from 1-4 PM.

Images: “Gomorrah Borealis” A Fashion Ballet written and directed by Steven Arnold, featuring the warm weather collection by Harry Parnass and Nicola Pelly at their store Parachute on Melrose Avenue, 1984.

From the Los Angeles Reader review “Theatrical Dressings” by William Franklin:

The clothes were certainly not the thing in Parachute’s fantasy un­ veiling of its fall line at the Palace last week. The cotton separates, Kabuki-inspired belt­ ings, and oversized detachable pocket solutions were almost completely upstaged by the cre­ ative vision of Steven Arnold, one of Los Angeles’s most iconoclastic forces.
The theatrically choreo­graphed fashion extravaganza, billed as Gomorrah Borealis, was written and directed by Arnold, whose cosmic other-worldliness alluded to ancient rituals and mythical dream states. His tribal masks, pyra­ mid-shaped headpieces, and Cocteau-like set underscored a sense of the mystical, the rites of passage that transcend temporary cultural moorings. Gomorrah Borealis was popu­ lated by the disciplined troops of the Los Angeles Ballet, who responded with brio to Jennifer Narin-Smith’s hypnotic choreography.
The entire event pivoted around a musical score culled from epic chariot films of the fifties and sixties, including the Ten Commandments and Ben Hur.
The SRO crowd ranged from colorful paste-and bauble glam queens to handsome Capri­-panted young mensporting tuxedo shirts and Egyptian eye makeup. By comparison, Para­ chute’s fall line of simple cotton coordinates faded into the background, eclipsed by Arnold’s innovative theatrics and a fascinating collection the city’s most fashionable cognoscenti.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is extended through June 6, 2026. Walk-in visits are this Saturday, and every Saturday, from 1-4 PM.

Images: “Gomorrah Borealis” A Fashion Ballet written and directed by Steven Arnold, featuring the warm weather collection by Harry Parnass and Nicola Pelly at their store Parachute on Melrose Avenue, 1984.

From the Los Angeles Reader review “Theatrical Dressings” by William Franklin:

The clothes were certainly not the thing in Parachute’s fantasy un­ veiling of its fall line at the Palace last week. The cotton separates, Kabuki-inspired belt­ ings, and oversized detachable pocket solutions were almost completely upstaged by the cre­ ative vision of Steven Arnold, one of Los Angeles’s most iconoclastic forces.
The theatrically choreo­graphed fashion extravaganza, billed as Gomorrah Borealis, was written and directed by Arnold, whose cosmic other-worldliness alluded to ancient rituals and mythical dream states. His tribal masks, pyra­ mid-shaped headpieces, and Cocteau-like set underscored a sense of the mystical, the rites of passage that transcend temporary cultural moorings. Gomorrah Borealis was popu­ lated by the disciplined troops of the Los Angeles Ballet, who responded with brio to Jennifer Narin-Smith’s hypnotic choreography.
The entire event pivoted around a musical score culled from epic chariot films of the fifties and sixties, including the Ten Commandments and Ben Hur.
The SRO crowd ranged from colorful paste-and bauble glam queens to handsome Capri­-panted young mensporting tuxedo shirts and Egyptian eye makeup. By comparison, Para­ chute’s fall line of simple cotton coordinates faded into the background, eclipsed by Arnold’s innovative theatrics and a fascinating collection the city’s most fashionable cognoscenti.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is extended through June 6, 2026. Walk-in visits are this Saturday, and every Saturday, from 1-4 PM.

Images: “Gomorrah Borealis” A Fashion Ballet written and directed by Steven Arnold, featuring the warm weather collection by Harry Parnass and Nicola Pelly at their store Parachute on Melrose Avenue, 1984.

From the Los Angeles Reader review “Theatrical Dressings” by William Franklin:

The clothes were certainly not the thing in Parachute’s fantasy un­ veiling of its fall line at the Palace last week. The cotton separates, Kabuki-inspired belt­ ings, and oversized detachable pocket solutions were almost completely upstaged by the cre­ ative vision of Steven Arnold, one of Los Angeles’s most iconoclastic forces.
The theatrically choreo­graphed fashion extravaganza, billed as Gomorrah Borealis, was written and directed by Arnold, whose cosmic other-worldliness alluded to ancient rituals and mythical dream states. His tribal masks, pyra­ mid-shaped headpieces, and Cocteau-like set underscored a sense of the mystical, the rites of passage that transcend temporary cultural moorings. Gomorrah Borealis was popu­ lated by the disciplined troops of the Los Angeles Ballet, who responded with brio to Jennifer Narin-Smith’s hypnotic choreography.
The entire event pivoted around a musical score culled from epic chariot films of the fifties and sixties, including the Ten Commandments and Ben Hur.
The SRO crowd ranged from colorful paste-and bauble glam queens to handsome Capri­-panted young mensporting tuxedo shirts and Egyptian eye makeup. By comparison, Para­ chute’s fall line of simple cotton coordinates faded into the background, eclipsed by Arnold’s innovative theatrics and a fascinating collection the city’s most fashionable cognoscenti.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is EXTENDED through June 6, 2026. Tickets to Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium this Saturday are now SOLD OUT!

On December 23, 1970, #StevenArnold and #KaisikWong presented their collaborative stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness” as part of a children’s “Christmas Magic” edition of Steven Arnold’s infamous midnight screenings and performance series “Nocturnal Dream Shows” at the Palace Theater in San Francisco. The play, directed by Steven Arnold with costumes by Kaisik Wong, is based on the Chinese literary character the Monkey King and featured Kaisik as the monkey and disco legend #Sylvester amongst the cast.

Images: Cast members, posters and storyboards from the stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness”, 1970. Courtesy of the Steven Arnold Archives at the One Archives at the USC Libraries.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is EXTENDED through June 6, 2026. Tickets to Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium this Saturday are now SOLD OUT!

On December 23, 1970, #StevenArnold and #KaisikWong presented their collaborative stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness” as part of a children’s “Christmas Magic” edition of Steven Arnold’s infamous midnight screenings and performance series “Nocturnal Dream Shows” at the Palace Theater in San Francisco. The play, directed by Steven Arnold with costumes by Kaisik Wong, is based on the Chinese literary character the Monkey King and featured Kaisik as the monkey and disco legend #Sylvester amongst the cast.

Images: Cast members, posters and storyboards from the stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness”, 1970. Courtesy of the Steven Arnold Archives at the One Archives at the USC Libraries.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is EXTENDED through June 6, 2026. Tickets to Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium this Saturday are now SOLD OUT!

On December 23, 1970, #StevenArnold and #KaisikWong presented their collaborative stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness” as part of a children’s “Christmas Magic” edition of Steven Arnold’s infamous midnight screenings and performance series “Nocturnal Dream Shows” at the Palace Theater in San Francisco. The play, directed by Steven Arnold with costumes by Kaisik Wong, is based on the Chinese literary character the Monkey King and featured Kaisik as the monkey and disco legend #Sylvester amongst the cast.

Images: Cast members, posters and storyboards from the stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness”, 1970. Courtesy of the Steven Arnold Archives at the One Archives at the USC Libraries.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is EXTENDED through June 6, 2026. Tickets to Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium this Saturday are now SOLD OUT!

On December 23, 1970, #StevenArnold and #KaisikWong presented their collaborative stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness” as part of a children’s “Christmas Magic” edition of Steven Arnold’s infamous midnight screenings and performance series “Nocturnal Dream Shows” at the Palace Theater in San Francisco. The play, directed by Steven Arnold with costumes by Kaisik Wong, is based on the Chinese literary character the Monkey King and featured Kaisik as the monkey and disco legend #Sylvester amongst the cast.

Images: Cast members, posters and storyboards from the stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness”, 1970. Courtesy of the Steven Arnold Archives at the One Archives at the USC Libraries.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is EXTENDED through June 6, 2026. Tickets to Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium this Saturday are now SOLD OUT!

On December 23, 1970, #StevenArnold and #KaisikWong presented their collaborative stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness” as part of a children’s “Christmas Magic” edition of Steven Arnold’s infamous midnight screenings and performance series “Nocturnal Dream Shows” at the Palace Theater in San Francisco. The play, directed by Steven Arnold with costumes by Kaisik Wong, is based on the Chinese literary character the Monkey King and featured Kaisik as the monkey and disco legend #Sylvester amongst the cast.

Images: Cast members, posters and storyboards from the stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness”, 1970. Courtesy of the Steven Arnold Archives at the One Archives at the USC Libraries.

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is EXTENDED through June 6, 2026. Tickets to Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium this Saturday are now SOLD OUT!

On December 23, 1970, #StevenArnold and #KaisikWong presented their collaborative stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness” as part of a children’s “Christmas Magic” edition of Steven Arnold’s infamous midnight screenings and performance series “Nocturnal Dream Shows” at the Palace Theater in San Francisco. The play, directed by Steven Arnold with costumes by Kaisik Wong, is based on the Chinese literary character the Monkey King and featured Kaisik as the monkey and disco legend #Sylvester amongst the cast.

Images: Cast members, posters and storyboards from the stage play “Monkey and the Whitebone Demoness”, 1970. Courtesy of the Steven Arnold Archives at the One Archives at the USC Libraries.

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 4: Cruising the Archive: Comparative Chronicles of Illimitable Lives | 5:00 PM
The culminating conversation of the program, this panel is comprised of directors and curators from the symposium’s co-sponsors: @alexisbardjohnson from the ONE Archives at USC Libraries, where Steven Arnold’s archive is now housed; @yung_sch0lar from the GLBT Historical Society Museum, where Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven will travel for the Further Triennial in 2027; and #KyleCroft from Visual AIDS, where a selection of Arnold’s papers are preserved. With diverse philosophies on archival methods, panelists discuss their varying approaches to archives that are often shaped by ephemeral experiences, intimate settings, and cultural erasure.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 4: Cruising the Archive: Comparative Chronicles of Illimitable Lives | 5:00 PM
The culminating conversation of the program, this panel is comprised of directors and curators from the symposium’s co-sponsors: @alexisbardjohnson from the ONE Archives at USC Libraries, where Steven Arnold’s archive is now housed; @yung_sch0lar from the GLBT Historical Society Museum, where Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven will travel for the Further Triennial in 2027; and #KyleCroft from Visual AIDS, where a selection of Arnold’s papers are preserved. With diverse philosophies on archival methods, panelists discuss their varying approaches to archives that are often shaped by ephemeral experiences, intimate settings, and cultural erasure.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 4: Cruising the Archive: Comparative Chronicles of Illimitable Lives | 5:00 PM
The culminating conversation of the program, this panel is comprised of directors and curators from the symposium’s co-sponsors: @alexisbardjohnson from the ONE Archives at USC Libraries, where Steven Arnold’s archive is now housed; @yung_sch0lar from the GLBT Historical Society Museum, where Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven will travel for the Further Triennial in 2027; and #KyleCroft from Visual AIDS, where a selection of Arnold’s papers are preserved. With diverse philosophies on archival methods, panelists discuss their varying approaches to archives that are often shaped by ephemeral experiences, intimate settings, and cultural erasure.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 4: Cruising the Archive: Comparative Chronicles of Illimitable Lives | 5:00 PM
The culminating conversation of the program, this panel is comprised of directors and curators from the symposium’s co-sponsors: @alexisbardjohnson from the ONE Archives at USC Libraries, where Steven Arnold’s archive is now housed; @yung_sch0lar from the GLBT Historical Society Museum, where Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven will travel for the Further Triennial in 2027; and #KyleCroft from Visual AIDS, where a selection of Arnold’s papers are preserved. With diverse philosophies on archival methods, panelists discuss their varying approaches to archives that are often shaped by ephemeral experiences, intimate settings, and cultural erasure.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 4: Cruising the Archive: Comparative Chronicles of Illimitable Lives | 5:00 PM
The culminating conversation of the program, this panel is comprised of directors and curators from the symposium’s co-sponsors: @alexisbardjohnson from the ONE Archives at USC Libraries, where Steven Arnold’s archive is now housed; @yung_sch0lar from the GLBT Historical Society Museum, where Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven will travel for the Further Triennial in 2027; and #KyleCroft from Visual AIDS, where a selection of Arnold’s papers are preserved. With diverse philosophies on archival methods, panelists discuss their varying approaches to archives that are often shaped by ephemeral experiences, intimate settings, and cultural erasure.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 4: Cruising the Archive: Comparative Chronicles of Illimitable Lives | 5:00 PM
The culminating conversation of the program, this panel is comprised of directors and curators from the symposium’s co-sponsors: @alexisbardjohnson from the ONE Archives at USC Libraries, where Steven Arnold’s archive is now housed; @yung_sch0lar from the GLBT Historical Society Museum, where Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven will travel for the Further Triennial in 2027; and #KyleCroft from Visual AIDS, where a selection of Arnold’s papers are preserved. With diverse philosophies on archival methods, panelists discuss their varying approaches to archives that are often shaped by ephemeral experiences, intimate settings, and cultural erasure.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

EXHIBITION EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE 6, 2026

Image: Steven’s friends and muses Annie Kelly and Pandora modeling coats by RAL West (formerly known as CUCA), photographed by Steven Arnold.

From the 1970s-80s, R.A.L. West worked as an avant-garde couture fashion designer under the name “Cuca,” collaborating with artists such as Steven Arnold. Her wearable art was featured in notable San Francisco venues like Sandra Sakata’s Obiko boutique.

Several of R.A.L. West’s works are on view in the exhibition including these photographed here.

EXHIBITION EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE 6, 2026

Image: Steven’s friends and muses Annie Kelly and Pandora modeling coats by RAL West (formerly known as CUCA), photographed by Steven Arnold.

From the 1970s-80s, R.A.L. West worked as an avant-garde couture fashion designer under the name “Cuca,” collaborating with artists such as Steven Arnold. Her wearable art was featured in notable San Francisco venues like Sandra Sakata’s Obiko boutique.

Several of R.A.L. West’s works are on view in the exhibition including these photographed here.

EXHIBITION EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE 6, 2026

Image: Steven’s friends and muses Annie Kelly and Pandora modeling coats by RAL West (formerly known as CUCA), photographed by Steven Arnold.

From the 1970s-80s, R.A.L. West worked as an avant-garde couture fashion designer under the name “Cuca,” collaborating with artists such as Steven Arnold. Her wearable art was featured in notable San Francisco venues like Sandra Sakata’s Obiko boutique.

Several of R.A.L. West’s works are on view in the exhibition including these photographed here.

EXHIBITION EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE 6, 2026

Image: Steven’s friends and muses Annie Kelly and Pandora modeling coats by RAL West (formerly known as CUCA), photographed by Steven Arnold.

From the 1970s-80s, R.A.L. West worked as an avant-garde couture fashion designer under the name “Cuca,” collaborating with artists such as Steven Arnold. Her wearable art was featured in notable San Francisco venues like Sandra Sakata’s Obiko boutique.

Several of R.A.L. West’s works are on view in the exhibition including these photographed here.

EXHIBITION EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE 6, 2026

Image: Steven’s friends and muses Annie Kelly and Pandora modeling coats by RAL West (formerly known as CUCA), photographed by Steven Arnold.

From the 1970s-80s, R.A.L. West worked as an avant-garde couture fashion designer under the name “Cuca,” collaborating with artists such as Steven Arnold. Her wearable art was featured in notable San Francisco venues like Sandra Sakata’s Obiko boutique.

Several of R.A.L. West’s works are on view in the exhibition including these photographed here.

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 3: Deviant & Divine Androgynes: Self-Initiated Spiritualism | 4:oo PM

Situating Arnold within the vast lineage of esoteric ritual practice, this panel (Isabelle Albuquerque @isabellealbuquerque, David Evans-Frantz @davidevansfrantz, and Laura Whitcomb @label_curatorial_) explores the movements, organizations, and literature that germinated occult and hippie mysticism throughout twentieth-century California. Investigating Arnold’s tableaux vivant photographs—spectacular visions of his queer community in the form of gods, goddesses, angels, saints, and shamans—the panel considers both how spirituality informs the aesthetics of queer artists, and how queer artists approach aesthetics as a spiritual rite in response to social and religious intolerance.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 3: Deviant & Divine Androgynes: Self-Initiated Spiritualism | 4:oo PM

Situating Arnold within the vast lineage of esoteric ritual practice, this panel (Isabelle Albuquerque @isabellealbuquerque, David Evans-Frantz @davidevansfrantz, and Laura Whitcomb @label_curatorial_) explores the movements, organizations, and literature that germinated occult and hippie mysticism throughout twentieth-century California. Investigating Arnold’s tableaux vivant photographs—spectacular visions of his queer community in the form of gods, goddesses, angels, saints, and shamans—the panel considers both how spirituality informs the aesthetics of queer artists, and how queer artists approach aesthetics as a spiritual rite in response to social and religious intolerance.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 3: Deviant & Divine Androgynes: Self-Initiated Spiritualism | 4:oo PM

Situating Arnold within the vast lineage of esoteric ritual practice, this panel (Isabelle Albuquerque @isabellealbuquerque, David Evans-Frantz @davidevansfrantz, and Laura Whitcomb @label_curatorial_) explores the movements, organizations, and literature that germinated occult and hippie mysticism throughout twentieth-century California. Investigating Arnold’s tableaux vivant photographs—spectacular visions of his queer community in the form of gods, goddesses, angels, saints, and shamans—the panel considers both how spirituality informs the aesthetics of queer artists, and how queer artists approach aesthetics as a spiritual rite in response to social and religious intolerance.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 3: Deviant & Divine Androgynes: Self-Initiated Spiritualism | 4:oo PM

Situating Arnold within the vast lineage of esoteric ritual practice, this panel (Isabelle Albuquerque @isabellealbuquerque, David Evans-Frantz @davidevansfrantz, and Laura Whitcomb @label_curatorial_) explores the movements, organizations, and literature that germinated occult and hippie mysticism throughout twentieth-century California. Investigating Arnold’s tableaux vivant photographs—spectacular visions of his queer community in the form of gods, goddesses, angels, saints, and shamans—the panel considers both how spirituality informs the aesthetics of queer artists, and how queer artists approach aesthetics as a spiritual rite in response to social and religious intolerance.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 3: Deviant & Divine Androgynes: Self-Initiated Spiritualism | 4:oo PM

Situating Arnold within the vast lineage of esoteric ritual practice, this panel (Isabelle Albuquerque @isabellealbuquerque, David Evans-Frantz @davidevansfrantz, and Laura Whitcomb @label_curatorial_) explores the movements, organizations, and literature that germinated occult and hippie mysticism throughout twentieth-century California. Investigating Arnold’s tableaux vivant photographs—spectacular visions of his queer community in the form of gods, goddesses, angels, saints, and shamans—the panel considers both how spirituality informs the aesthetics of queer artists, and how queer artists approach aesthetics as a spiritual rite in response to social and religious intolerance.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

THIS SATURDAY: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 3: Deviant & Divine Androgynes: Self-Initiated Spiritualism | 4:oo PM

Situating Arnold within the vast lineage of esoteric ritual practice, this panel (Isabelle Albuquerque @isabellealbuquerque, David Evans-Frantz @davidevansfrantz, and Laura Whitcomb @label_curatorial_) explores the movements, organizations, and literature that germinated occult and hippie mysticism throughout twentieth-century California. Investigating Arnold’s tableaux vivant photographs—spectacular visions of his queer community in the form of gods, goddesses, angels, saints, and shamans—the panel considers both how spirituality informs the aesthetics of queer artists, and how queer artists approach aesthetics as a spiritual rite in response to social and religious intolerance.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

An extravaganza. A summoning. A beautiful fiasco.

A look back at an evening of performance, dancing, and dining in honor of Steven Arnold at Del Vaz Projects, co-hosted by Karen Hillenburg (@mudindustries) and Christine Messineo (@christinemessineo).

For the opening of Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven, we turned to images and moving footage of his legendary gatherings at Zanzabar, alongside stills from Luminous Procuress (1971), starring The Cockettes—reanimating his tableaux of performance and living sculpture.

Drawing from his unpublished memoir, we recreated a 15-foot banquet inspired by the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails he favored at Countess Katherine Cebrian’s salon. The evening unfolded as a sensorial homage—where body, object, and atmosphere blurred—and the air filled with the music he loved. And, in anticipation of rain, a tent bloomed overhead with 300 upside-down, slowly twirling silk parasols.

At Del Vaz Projects, we believe transmission happens through every register—food and drink, perfume and sweat, the movement and sound of bodies—as much as through our exhibitions and publications. Queer culture lives not only in scholarship, but in laughter, touch, music, and shared ritual.

Artistic Direction @orrinwhalen
Performance Direction @tmostudio
Feast & Cocktails @personal_pan_pizza_
Music @dj_victor_rodriguez
Tent design @tidal_woodcraft

📸 @tmostudio

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Sean Leffers, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazproiects

RSVP NOW: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 2:
Cross Gender/Cross Genre: Methodologies of Maximalism | 2:00 PM

Framed by Mike Kelley’s definition of the “pastiche aesthetic” in his 1999 essay “Cross Gender / Cross Genre,” this panel (Rita Gonzalez @gonzorita, Joey Terrill @homeboybeautiful, and Anna Bane @anna__bane ) considers ​​the ways in which creatives collage vast genres, cinematic interiors, and recycled materials as a means or circumstance of coding and comprehending queerness. Citing Arnold’s contemporaries across art, film, and design—from Mundo Meza to Tony Duquette, Kenneth Anger, The Cockettes, and Asco’s No Movies—the panel charts the evolution from the psychedelic visual confusion of the 1960s in San Francisco to the streamlined, pop vocabulary of the 1980s in Los Angeles.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects

RSVP NOW: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 2:
Cross Gender/Cross Genre: Methodologies of Maximalism | 2:00 PM

Framed by Mike Kelley’s definition of the “pastiche aesthetic” in his 1999 essay “Cross Gender / Cross Genre,” this panel (Rita Gonzalez @gonzorita, Joey Terrill @homeboybeautiful, and Anna Bane @anna__bane ) considers ​​the ways in which creatives collage vast genres, cinematic interiors, and recycled materials as a means or circumstance of coding and comprehending queerness. Citing Arnold’s contemporaries across art, film, and design—from Mundo Meza to Tony Duquette, Kenneth Anger, The Cockettes, and Asco’s No Movies—the panel charts the evolution from the psychedelic visual confusion of the 1960s in San Francisco to the streamlined, pop vocabulary of the 1980s in Los Angeles.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects

RSVP NOW: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 2:
Cross Gender/Cross Genre: Methodologies of Maximalism | 2:00 PM

Framed by Mike Kelley’s definition of the “pastiche aesthetic” in his 1999 essay “Cross Gender / Cross Genre,” this panel (Rita Gonzalez @gonzorita, Joey Terrill @homeboybeautiful, and Anna Bane @anna__bane ) considers ​​the ways in which creatives collage vast genres, cinematic interiors, and recycled materials as a means or circumstance of coding and comprehending queerness. Citing Arnold’s contemporaries across art, film, and design—from Mundo Meza to Tony Duquette, Kenneth Anger, The Cockettes, and Asco’s No Movies—the panel charts the evolution from the psychedelic visual confusion of the 1960s in San Francisco to the streamlined, pop vocabulary of the 1980s in Los Angeles.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects

RSVP NOW: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 2:
Cross Gender/Cross Genre: Methodologies of Maximalism | 2:00 PM

Framed by Mike Kelley’s definition of the “pastiche aesthetic” in his 1999 essay “Cross Gender / Cross Genre,” this panel (Rita Gonzalez @gonzorita, Joey Terrill @homeboybeautiful, and Anna Bane @anna__bane ) considers ​​the ways in which creatives collage vast genres, cinematic interiors, and recycled materials as a means or circumstance of coding and comprehending queerness. Citing Arnold’s contemporaries across art, film, and design—from Mundo Meza to Tony Duquette, Kenneth Anger, The Cockettes, and Asco’s No Movies—the panel charts the evolution from the psychedelic visual confusion of the 1960s in San Francisco to the streamlined, pop vocabulary of the 1980s in Los Angeles.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects

RSVP NOW: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 2:
Cross Gender/Cross Genre: Methodologies of Maximalism | 2:00 PM

Framed by Mike Kelley’s definition of the “pastiche aesthetic” in his 1999 essay “Cross Gender / Cross Genre,” this panel (Rita Gonzalez @gonzorita, Joey Terrill @homeboybeautiful, and Anna Bane @anna__bane ) considers ​​the ways in which creatives collage vast genres, cinematic interiors, and recycled materials as a means or circumstance of coding and comprehending queerness. Citing Arnold’s contemporaries across art, film, and design—from Mundo Meza to Tony Duquette, Kenneth Anger, The Cockettes, and Asco’s No Movies—the panel charts the evolution from the psychedelic visual confusion of the 1960s in San Francisco to the streamlined, pop vocabulary of the 1980s in Los Angeles.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects

RSVP NOW: Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium at Del Vaz Projects | April 25, 2026, 12-6 PM

Entry $15 | Free for students | Link in Bio

Panel 2:
Cross Gender/Cross Genre: Methodologies of Maximalism | 2:00 PM

Framed by Mike Kelley’s definition of the “pastiche aesthetic” in his 1999 essay “Cross Gender / Cross Genre,” this panel (Rita Gonzalez @gonzorita, Joey Terrill @homeboybeautiful, and Anna Bane @anna__bane ) considers ​​the ways in which creatives collage vast genres, cinematic interiors, and recycled materials as a means or circumstance of coding and comprehending queerness. Citing Arnold’s contemporaries across art, film, and design—from Mundo Meza to Tony Duquette, Kenneth Anger, The Cockettes, and Asco’s No Movies—the panel charts the evolution from the psychedelic visual confusion of the 1960s in San Francisco to the streamlined, pop vocabulary of the 1980s in Los Angeles.

Steven Arnold’s Sex & Spirit Symposium is an afternoon-long program inspired by the multidisciplinary artist Steven Arnold (b. 1943, Oakland, CA; d. 1994, Los Angeles, CA) whose work is currently on view at Del Vaz Projects.

Presented by @delvazprojects in partnership with
@onearchivesusc, Los Angeles
@glbt_history, San Francisco
& @visual_aids, New York

This program was made possible thanks to the support of Del Vaz Projects Patron Sean Leffers.
_

Steven Arnold: Cocktails in Heaven is made possible with support from the Del Vaz Projects Patrons Karen Hillenburg, Stacy & John Rubeli, and Berry Stein.

Del Vaz Projects’ exhibitions, publications, and public programming are made possible through a Multi-Year Program Support grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; a Board-Directed grant from The Teiger Foundation; the Organizational Support Program and a Community Access & Participation grant from the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs; and the Organizational Grant Program from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Department of Arts and Culture.

@stevenarnoldarchive
#stevenarnold
@warholfoundation
#warholgrantee
@teigerfoundation
@lacountyarts
@delvazprojects
#delvazprojects