Welcome to the 2010 Lavender Yellow Pages Edition
For Business & Community Listings please visit LavenderYellowPages.com
Entering a new decade, Lavender Media, publisher of Lavender Magazine, welcomes OutFront Minnesota as our nonprofit partner of the 2010 edition of the award-winning GLBT Lavender Yellow Pages Edition. For the eighth consecutive year, we have created a rich directory of information that will benefit Minnesota’s GLBT community and all its allies.
With the recent recession, we are more than fortunate to have such a wealth of GLBT-owned -operated, and/or -friendly businesses, establishments, and resources available to us. We are pleased to continue bringing our community together by providing the most inclusive GLBT directory to date, including information for the newcomer, resident, or visitor; maps and seating carts; tips on where to go, what to see, and how to get there.
With the collaboration of businesses and organizations statewide, Lavender Yellow Pages is going strong, and we invite you to pick up a copy at one of nearly 1,000 distribution sites throughout the metro, state, and surrounding states. Lavender Yellow Pages packages the power of the GLBT community in one single directory. The eighth edition of the Lavender Yellow Pages is a continuing reminder of the magnitude of the GLBT community as a powerful, ever-expanding market.
Renowned local artist Jim Dryden created the cover of the eighth edition of the Lavender Yellow Pages. An essay on him and his work appears on pages 5 and 6.
Not only is Lavender Yellow Pages owned and operated locally, but also it is printed locally, meaning the proceeds will remain in Minnesota. The directory as well employs Minnesota workers, allowing Lavender Yellow Pages to offer the lowest comparable rates to businesses for direct marketing and advertising opportunities.
These factors, when taken together, assist in advancing our goal of making our community a place where GLBT Minnesotans have the freedom, power, and confidence to find resources to aid in their lives.
More than 1,000 resources are listed in the 2010 Lavender Yellow Pages, as well as many other business listings, events, and local scenes of interest. This very comprehensiveness of the directory ensures it’s valuable to many visitors and Minnesota residents beyond the GLBT community.
We are enthusiastic about our partnership with OutFront Minnesota, an organization that stands up for the rights of the GLBT community every single day of the year. We believe that the combination of our efforts and resources will strengthen the foundation of recognition, acceptance, and inclusion currently existing and growing throughout the communities we call home.
Connecting the Dots in Living Color
by Todd Park
Cover artist Jim Dryden says, “Art is about connecting. It connects us to our past and future, to our families and community, and opens us up to possibilities and opportunities.”
In a real sense, each of Dryden’s works of art is, in and of itself, a unique story. Most written or oral stories have some sort of order or chronology. The difference with art, he points out, is that a picture often has the ability to pull the viewer outside of time entirely, and rather than passages, art has a way of communicating in bursts of meaning.
As Dryden explains, “Often, there are numerous elements in a piece that are suggestive or symbolic of a story. The narratives are nonsequential.”
Dryden’s portrayal of color and shape are redolent of the stories of his experiences and of his deep-seated desires.
In Dryden’s words, “The stories are life histories. They are things from our lives, our everyday experiences.”
Having traveled widely, Dryden draws on a multitude of cultural and far-flung, exotic locales. But a number of his works have simple elements that might appear as minimalist—an homage of sorts to the more intimate and familiar North Dakota environs of his upbringing. In reality, the themes he works out on the canvas may be parts of expansive or complicated concepts.
Dryden’s quiet exterior belies the machinations of his imagination—there is no constant, but rather, as he puts it, “an ebb and flow of concepts and ideas.”
Art is something Dryden has always been drawn to, and he states quite simply, “It is a natural activity for me.”
Accomplished in both fine art and in commercial illustration, Dryden sorts out ideas by crafting images for himself, as well as for his corporate clients. The variety of work promotes a freshness and vibrancy to all that he does.
Dryden shares, “I actively pursue a number of different directions, but eventually come home [to abstract portraiture]. I love riding the fine line between the abstract and the figurative.”
Recognizing many don’t understand or appreciate the abstract, Dryden notes that as art becomes more abstract, it may require a context to draw the viewer in. Very often, it’s the ordinary that has the capability to impart the eureka moment to the uninitiated, where the abstract becomes familiar.
Dryden is confident that he has struck the right balance between the figurative and the abstract on the cover of this year’s Lavender Yellow Pages. His message is clear: The time for marriage equality in Minnesota has come.
This year’s Yellow Pages partner, OutFront Minnesota, not only has been a tireless advocate for marriage equality, but also has served the GLBT community as an agency dedicated to leading Minnesota toward full equality for more than 22 years by delivering programs and services for its GLBT people, and fostering a welcoming environment for allies to join the movement.
OutFront’s advocacy work in the area of marriage equality most certainly is not lost on Dryden and his partner of 28 years, Wayne Groff.
Dryden’s work will be featured at Form + Content Gallery, 210 Second Street North, Minneapolis, from April 8 through May 15. The exhibition, entitled WE2, focuses on gay male partners and relationships. Following this solo show, Dryden will be curating an exhibition with Howard Oransky and Dean Otto from May 20 through June 26 to coincide with Pride Month. That show, highlighting marriage equality, also will be hosted by Form + Content Gallery.
More than the accolades he has enjoyed over the years, Dryden finds real happiness in simply the opportunity to do what he enjoys professionally, and getting his artwork out to a variety of venues. Whether it is in a gallery, a publication, or a home, he takes great pride in connecting with people, and sharing with them one of his stories born from an experience of a life authentically lived, and portrayed in vibrant color.
Jim Dryden
For more information, visit www.jimdryden.com,
or e-mail [email protected]
