Aaryn Lang on Being More Than a Muse and Her Grant to Support Black Trans Women Artists

“We need the vision of Black trans people at the forefront to be unfiltered and ‘for us, by us.’ The Illuminations Grant is FUBU at its finest,” Lang adds with a laugh. “It is literally the vision of a Black trans woman for Black trans women.”I recently had the chance to speak with Lang about the grant and how it came together, as well as the greater question about artists and muses and what she envisions for Black trans women in the art world more broadly.

HARRON WALKER: When I was reading about the Illuminations Grant, I was struck by the part about how it aims to challenge the art world “to see Black trans women as more than mere subjects” but as artists in their own right. How does that dynamic play out in the art world?AARYN LANG: The relationship between subject and artist is complicated.

This grant does that. It creates a pathway to success that doesn’t include having to be a muse for someone else. It’s about making the subject the artist—making the subject the creator. In the art world—everywhere, really—there’s this idea about who Black trans women are. The Illuminations Grant is actually opening the floor up to hear from Black trans women ourselves.And the name of the grant itself reflects that question of access.

This industry is not welcoming to Black trans women. Even if the spaces don’t outright say that, so many factors around access and resources lead to why we’re not there—and the people in those spaces think that’s OK. There can be a room full of artists looking at photos of Black trans women, feeling moved by those images, but nobody questions why there are no Black trans women in this space.

Coming from movement and the nonprofit space, there are many Black trans women. People think that’s because Black trans women always want to be in movement work, but it’s largely due to the funding that goes into that space. The funding goes to nonprofits for Black trans women to come in to combat transphobia or whatever other crusade foundations and funders care to support. We have to survive, so we go where there is an opportunity to sustain ourselves.

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