Eye Zen Presents' Fab Lab program emerged from a profound recognition of the need to preserve and celebrate LGBTQIA+ and QTBIPOC histories. The Fab Lab program began in 2014 when Artistic Director, Seth Eisen was conducting research for the production Homo File. The program emerged from Eisen's personal experience of finding belonging and strength through connecting with queer ancestors. What began as an exploration of archival materials related to the subject of Homo File, Samuel Steward, evolved into a vibrant space for collective learning and creative expression.
From 2014 to 2019, Fab Lab operated as an annual program, focusing on innovative ways to access and respond to ancestral archives through creative workshops celebrating specific queer ancestors.
Photo Credit: Seth Eisen
In 2019, the program expanded into a public series with April Axé Charmain and Sol Vida leading monthly workshops centered on QTBIPOC ancestors, incorporating dance, ritual, and embodiment practices. That first year celebrated the lives of remarkable ancestors including Josephine Baker, the first Black international superstar who became a civil rights activist and spy; Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the queer Black woman known as the Godmother of Rock N' Roll; Marsha P. Johnson, the pioneering transgender activist; Zach Thompson, the legendary San Francisco-based African-American dancer and choreographer; Gladys Bentley, the bold Harlem singer known as the Brown Bomber of Sophisticated Song; Sylvester, San Francisco's beloved International Disco Diva; Willie Ninja, the godfather of voguing featured in "Paris Is Burning"; and Lorraine Hansberry, the first African-American female playwright on Broadway and contributor to the lesbian rights publication, The Ladder.
Photo Credit: Seth Eisen
A significant transformation occurred in 2021 when company manager Jesse Kohn helped forge a partnership between Eye Zen, Axé of Sol Vida and Leticia Duarte of Latinx Mafia to form a new leadership team. This collaboration brought together organizations sharing complementary missions: Eye Zen's focus on LGBTQIA+ histories, Latinx Mafia's commitment to empowering Latinx teatristas, and SOL VIDA's dedication to preserving Afro-Diasporic cultural traditions.
The program has since grown to include a diverse team of teaching artists and staff. Among Eye Zen's 20-member staff and contractors, 16 identify as people of color, with all programs being QTBIPOC led or co-led. The 2022-2023 season saw the core staff expand to include notable artists and activists such as Yiyo Orñelas, Jesse Annette Koehn, L. Duarte, River Bermudez-Sanders, and April Axé Charmaine.
Today, Fab Lab operates as a series of two-hour "playshops" - creative laboratories facilitated by QTBIPOC voices that introduce participants to queer ancestors through interdisciplinary arts. These sessions culminate in Celebration of Life events, free public gatherings where participants share their ancestor-inspired art. Recent celebrations have featured tributes to influential figures such as James Baldwin, Gloria Anzaldúa, Audre Lorde, and Justin Chin, bringing together the Bay Area's most celebrated QTBIPOC artists.
Photo Credit: Seth Eisen & L. Duarte
The impact of Fab Lab is evident in its reach and demographics: serving an estimated 125,000 LGBTQ+ people in San Francisco and 350,000 in the greater Bay Area. According to their 2021 survey, 80% of participants identify as people of color, and 74% as 2SLGBTQIA+. Through ongoing social media engagement, e-zines, and public events, Fab Lab continues its mission of weaving previously silenced histories back into community consciousness, creating platforms for visibility and solidarity within the QTBIPOC community.
A Note on Acronyms
QTBIPOC- Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Culture
* POC formerly utilized as “people of color”; we are strategically using the term “People Of Culture” because we would like to address the issues of colorism implicit in the term “color”.
2SLGBTQIA+ Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Plus
FabLab Leadership Team
Community Partners
SOL VIDA is shifting normalcy from systemic oppression to radical freedom utilizing dance and expressive arts as tools for personal transformation, collective liberation and embodied healing justice. We are dedicated to preserving Afro-Diasporic cultural traditions, creating progressive, multigenerational dance communities, and affinity spaces for education, empowerment, leadership and advocacy. To provide safe spaces for Queer, Trans, Black and Indigenous People of Culture (QTBIPoC and BIPoC) as well as Two-spirit, lesbian, gay, trans, queer, intersex, aesexual and gender expansive identities (2SPLGBTQIA+ ). We are a global movement company that uses dance and expressive arts to release people from feeling traumatized, isolated, stressed out, ashamed, shut down, afraid and insecure and give them safe, sacred inclusive havens to express themselves fully, restoring confidence, sparking life creativity and sharing tools to disrupt and break down the oppressive systems in society.
Latinx Mafia is a collective of diverse Latinx/e identified artists. The group was born out of a need to address our collective experiences with racist, problematic and misunderstood casting and storytelling practices of Latinx/e stories in a white-dominated media space. We come together in community to advocate for our radically accurate representation, to provide support and resources for Latinx-identified artist and to uplift our talent. Our mission is to empower and support Latinx teatristas by reclaiming, demystifying and recreating Latinx representation in theatre/media and ensuring that Latinx representation in theatre and media radically and accurately embraces historically marginalized communities including but not limited to: the LGBTQiA2 community, indigenous and Afro-Latinx people, differently-able folks, migrants regardless of immigration status, and the many linguistic backgrounds in Latin America.