BY BTL STAFF
DETROIT – Actor and producer Jon Imparato will present a topic on queer art at Sphinx Con 2015, an upcoming convention to be held in the Westin Book Cadillac in Downtown Detroit.
Imparato's talk "Liberation vs. Assimilation (The Normalizing of Queer Art)" is scheduled for presentation from 4:15-5:05 p.m. on Jan. 30. Serving as respondents to the topic are Executive Director of Equality Michigan Emily Dievendorf, Executive Director of KICK Curtis Lipscomb and avid soloist and chamber musician Karlos Rodriguez.
Imparato worked as an actor for 25 years before switching to production. Since then he has worked with the Los Angeles LGBT Center as the director of the Lily Tomlin/Jayne Wagner Cultural Arts Center, a program he created which has produced the debuts of shows for Margaret Cho, Kathy Griffin, Alec Mapa, Jenifer Lewis, Carol Channing and many more. His productions at the Tomlin/Wagner Center have received more than 50 awards and nominations as well as recommendations by LA Weekly.
Interested attendees can come for the weekend to hear how lives are transformed through the diversity of the arts and be amongst 40 distinguished art leaders addressing innovative solutions to engage audiences and artists. Some other topics that will be discussed are: dance, theater, LGBTQ outreach, arts and healing, philanthropy and grant making, research and policy and innovation. Go to http://www.sphinxcon.org to for more information about the conference and to see a full list of speakers.
Tickets for the weekend-long event held from Jan. 30-Feb. 1 are priced at $35 for a student day-pass, $50 for an adult day-pass or $150 for an all weekend pass, if purchased at the door. Register for the event at http://www.sphinxmusic.org/sphinxcon-registration.html.
