REGISTRY OF GRIEF AND DELIGHT
Registry of Grief and Delight is a space to rest, reflect, and register the vast and subtle power of our individual and collective humanity in this moment. Conceived of by A.P.E. co-directors / stewards--in dialogue with members of our community being impacted by recent attempts to erase and dehumanize queer and trans people--it is intended as a space/act of community care that resists erasure. The installation offers a place for gathering, grieving, and connecting; for joy and delight; for community, introspection, and celebration. Visitors are offered ways to ‘register’ their griefs and/or delights in this time and, if they desire, leave them in the gallery so that others might find company in them.
Additional information below.
Additional information below.
Charged by poet Jack Gilbert’s words, We must risk delight, we conceive of this installation as an act of refusal against the forces that wish to isolate us into narrow experiences of being. In the face of the current onslaught of degradation and erasure, we are reminded anew of the necessity of feeling and making known the wholeness of our living selves. And to trust that we will find company with others doing the same. We must risk delight, grief, love, connection, sorrow, gratitude, weariness, interdependence, rage, vulnerability, joy. Doing so asserts the richness of our being and nourishes our capacity to fully participate in this world, together. It is our hope that the actions taken in the gallery this month will create, day by day, an accumulation of fierce and tender presence.
This installation was developed through many conversations with and the loving support of our community and advisors. Elements of the installation were created by artists Jae Southerland and Bobby LaBitch.
Additional context for this installation
March 2025 had been curated to feature the powerful work of a local trans artist. Out of concern for the safety of himself, those people uplifted in his work, and the gallery, the artist chose to cancel the exhibition. In solidarity with this artist’s experience, we, the co-directors / stewards of A.P.E., committed ourselves to develop an offering through which we could tend to ourselves, each other, and our community.
This installation was developed through many conversations with and the loving support of our community and advisors. Elements of the installation were created by artists Jae Southerland and Bobby LaBitch.
Additional context for this installation
March 2025 had been curated to feature the powerful work of a local trans artist. Out of concern for the safety of himself, those people uplifted in his work, and the gallery, the artist chose to cancel the exhibition. In solidarity with this artist’s experience, we, the co-directors / stewards of A.P.E., committed ourselves to develop an offering through which we could tend to ourselves, each other, and our community.
COMMUNITY OFFERINGS (ALL OFFERINGS TAKE PLACE AT A.P.E. GALLERY ON MAIN ST.)
TUESDAY, MARCH 11 • 7-8:30pm
An Evening of Love & Stillness
~ for queer & trans community & friends ~
with Bernadine Mellis
A pause to root in our connection to each other and to the earth, to generate love and kindness towards ourselves and queer and trans beings everywhere. We will build strength through stillness and presence with each other, resting into a guided practice and ending with social time and refreshments.
Open to all. No meditation experience necessary.
An Evening of Love & Stillness
~ for queer & trans community & friends ~
with Bernadine Mellis
A pause to root in our connection to each other and to the earth, to generate love and kindness towards ourselves and queer and trans beings everywhere. We will build strength through stillness and presence with each other, resting into a guided practice and ending with social time and refreshments.
Open to all. No meditation experience necessary.
FRIDAY, MARCH 21 • 7-9pm
For the Future/The Future is Now!
Hosted by Andrea Lawlor & Jordy Rosenberg
A community literary event in which people are invited to bring words of their own,
or of others, with the mission of offering
comfort for the disturbed, so we have the strength to keep disturbing the comfortable.
Doors open at 6:30pm
FREE • ALL AGES & ALL ARE WELCOME
Masks encouraged!
SUNDAY, MARCH 23 • 2-5pm
Seeding for the Future
with Rose Cherneff of Gardening for the Future
Join us for an afternoon of visioning and planting for the time ahead. There will be space to explore, inspire, and plan for that which you want to grow this year. In addition, participants will be invited to take part in a collective seed planting and map making project throughout downtown Northampton. We will practice seeding in un-ideal conditions as a way to work towards creating a more livable future and defying repression through filling public space with more life.
Drop in anytime from 2-5pm
FRIDAY, MARCH 28 • 6-7pm
An Invitation: A Moment In Between
with Heather Geoffrey
To our beloved trans community, to your families, to those who feel called--
You are invited to step into A Moment In Between, a space of pause, of breath, of rest.
In a world that so often demands our vigilance, this is a space to set it down, if only for a while. Together, we will enter through ritual and the resonance of shared sound—my voice, yours, and any who wish to join. In this pause, I have a story to offer, one given to me through prayer and reflection, meant to be shared in love.
Before we part, I will offer a blessing of love and protection to any who wish to receive it, closing our time together with care and intention.
This is my gift—a holding, a tending, a moment of respite outside of time. Come as you are. You are welcome here.
With love and reverence
Heather Geoffrey is a multidisciplinary artist, and community tender who moves through the world with a deep reverence for the spaces in between—between identities, borders, seen and unseen realms. She has spent her life navigating the liminal, exploring how art, ritual, and presence can serve as bridges between worlds. Her artistic practice spans painting, collage, digital photography, mixed media, written word, and performance, all infused with an understanding that creativity is both medicine and magic. Her work delves into themes of ancestry, lineage, and the role of the artist as a vessel. She believes in the power of shared experience, of art as a portal, and of gathering as an act of sacred tending. Heather is also the Co-Director of the Northampton Center for the Arts.
An Invitation: A Moment In Between
with Heather Geoffrey
To our beloved trans community, to your families, to those who feel called--
You are invited to step into A Moment In Between, a space of pause, of breath, of rest.
In a world that so often demands our vigilance, this is a space to set it down, if only for a while. Together, we will enter through ritual and the resonance of shared sound—my voice, yours, and any who wish to join. In this pause, I have a story to offer, one given to me through prayer and reflection, meant to be shared in love.
Before we part, I will offer a blessing of love and protection to any who wish to receive it, closing our time together with care and intention.
This is my gift—a holding, a tending, a moment of respite outside of time. Come as you are. You are welcome here.
With love and reverence
Heather Geoffrey is a multidisciplinary artist, and community tender who moves through the world with a deep reverence for the spaces in between—between identities, borders, seen and unseen realms. She has spent her life navigating the liminal, exploring how art, ritual, and presence can serve as bridges between worlds. Her artistic practice spans painting, collage, digital photography, mixed media, written word, and performance, all infused with an understanding that creativity is both medicine and magic. Her work delves into themes of ancestry, lineage, and the role of the artist as a vessel. She believes in the power of shared experience, of art as a portal, and of gathering as an act of sacred tending. Heather is also the Co-Director of the Northampton Center for the Arts.
SATURDAY, MARCH 29 • 5-8pm
TONGUES UNTIED
with Camille Asia (they/them) and Indë (they/he)
Tongues Untied will transform the A.P.E. Ltd. Gallery into an amplifier for genderqueer and trans community voices. You’re invited to take up space and join in freedom songs, breathing exercises, interactive storytelling and other forms of call and response that provide relief to our bodies and vitality to our spirits.
This public event will be masked for our communal wellbeing. Presenters Camille Asia (they/them) and Indë (they/he) are adamant proponents of solidarity as a vehicle for justice, and invite QTPoC especially to voice their needs.
$10 Suggested Donation, NOTAFLOF (No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds)
Schedule
5PM — Warmup with Camille Asia (Resting in Reverence)
5:20PM — Call & Response Music with Indë & MawuLisa Thomas-Adeyemo
6PM — Community Sharing featuring the “Not A No Place” cohort
6:40PM — Conga Call & Response with Julissa
7PM — Dance Party w/ DJ Dej
TONGUES UNTIED
with Camille Asia (they/them) and Indë (they/he)
Tongues Untied will transform the A.P.E. Ltd. Gallery into an amplifier for genderqueer and trans community voices. You’re invited to take up space and join in freedom songs, breathing exercises, interactive storytelling and other forms of call and response that provide relief to our bodies and vitality to our spirits.
This public event will be masked for our communal wellbeing. Presenters Camille Asia (they/them) and Indë (they/he) are adamant proponents of solidarity as a vehicle for justice, and invite QTPoC especially to voice their needs.
$10 Suggested Donation, NOTAFLOF (No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds)
Schedule
5PM — Warmup with Camille Asia (Resting in Reverence)
5:20PM — Call & Response Music with Indë & MawuLisa Thomas-Adeyemo
6PM — Community Sharing featuring the “Not A No Place” cohort
6:40PM — Conga Call & Response with Julissa
7PM — Dance Party w/ DJ Dej
