In celebration of Pride, the Haight Street Art Center will open Dawn State, an exhibition featuring the work of MCXT as a response to muralist Reuben Kadish’s 1937 fresco, A Dissertation on Alchemy. MCXT is a creative partnership between Monica Canilao and Xara Thustra. HSAC will also feature Flying Colors, the work of Silky Shoemaker, whose life size queer icon series will be on display along with paintings and work by Samedi Djeimguero and Adam Ansell. This transformative exhibition and experience will open on Thursday, June 8 with a grand celebration, performance art, food, drinks and live music and will run through the month of July. This event is FREE! All are welcome.

“DMT flower,” by MCXT

"Queer Icon, Jackie Shane," by Silky Shoemaker

MCXT’s art is living and breathing, a mix of thoughts, actions, mediums, time, metals & animals, alongside political riddles, sexiness and inclusivity in a queer storm, a mirrored joy.

Conjuring textile imagery into the physical and non-physical realms of space. Feelings, senses, painted and sewn, enormous found recovered re- imagined artworks that flow from one state into another, manifesting magical transformations to be held still as imagery and sculpture, for an ephemeral time and an eternal imagination.

“Mirror Mirror,” by MCXT

A Dissertation on Alchemy was completed as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) arts program and was controversial at the time of its creation in 1937 due to its progressive symbolism. The mural lives on the second floor at the top of a grand staircase in the Art Center at 215 Haight Street.

“MCXT is honored to show our work alongside A Dissertation on Alchemy, by Reuben Kadish. Our works speak to each other in that they both project a world of radical symbolism. It is said that ‘alchemists’ relied heavily upon their dreams, inspirations and visions for guidance in perfecting their art. To protect their secrets, they recorded diaries filled with mysterious symbols rather than text. These symbols remain exceptionally potent for changing states of consciousness. We offer you art. We use images, gatherings, words, and actions to project our hopes and investigate transformative forms of existing in a world stacked against all of us- plants, animals, and the living world alike. Art and activism can be a catalyst for great change. We work to weave the worlds we want to see.”

“A Dissertation on Alchemy,” by Reuben Kadish

“The Haight Street Art Center is thrilled to work with visionary artists MCXT on this groundbreaking exhibition that is sure to challenge, engage and inspire community as Kadish’s fresco has for decades,” Art Center’s Executive Director, Kelly Harris, states. “MCXT’s commitment to community building through art making and exhibitions connects perfectly to the WPA principles of providing artists the opportunity to uplift viewers post The Great Depression. We are honored to provide a platform for this transformative and inclusive exhibition that continues to celebrate Kadish’s radical influence and centers the queer experience.”

The Haight Street Art Center provides education, cultural development programs, and exhibitions. Drawing upon music, art, and social and political countercultural history, we provide a space that bridges communities through social activism and artistic expression.

The nonprofit Center is located at 215 Haight Street, at the corner of Laguna Street. The Center is open weekly on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12-6 pm. Its outdoor Garden Gallery is open daily (7 am – 9 pm). Admission is always free. For more information about the Haight Street Art Center, its exhibitions, events, and programs, please visit www.haightstreetart.org