Dennis Dean developed his love for photography as a gay teen in the 1970s, using the art form to escape being bullied in small-town Alabama.
“I just wanted to find a way to get those bullies to smile back at me,” recalls Dean, a longtime Fort Lauderdale photographer known for documenting South Florida’s diverse LGBTQ community. “Sure enough, it worked. Photography was the answer.”
Dean is executive director of ArtsUnited, a nonprofit Broward organization formed 25 years ago to help LGBTQ artists promote themselves and their work, which also runs a gallery at 2401 Dixie Highway on Wilton Manors’ growing North Dixie Highway arts district.
Dean, 61, moved to South Florida in 1995, where he became general manager of the now defunct Fort Lauderdale Players theater company. In 1999, he joined the newly formed ArtsUnited.
Throughout the years, ArtsUnited has hosted exhibits at local galleries and displayed members’ art at the Broward County Main Library in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Now it has its own gallery.
The group also became known for its annual ArtExplosion festival with visual and performance art events throughout South Florida.
ArtsUnited’s paid membership in 2010 hovered at about 100. It eventually plummeted into the 20s, says Dean, who joined the organization’s volunteer board in 2016.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we can’t let this die because this is so great for our community,’” recalls Dean. “There were a handful of us who said, ‘Yes, we will take over.’
In addition to the gallery, ArtsUnited has four levels of annual memberships: $20 for students, $60 individual artist memberships, $90 artist family memberships and $150 “art lover” memberships for others who support the organization.
Each month, Dean curates a new exhibit at the ArtsUnited Gallery. In January, it’s “Collabulous,” a collaboration of five local visual artists, Joel Baxter, Enrique Cirino, Rafael Farello, Axel Martinez and Robert Reda, who will interpret Dean’s photographic works.
The exhibition opens with a reception at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4 and runs through Saturday, Jan. 25.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: ArtsUnited Gallery
WHERE: 2401 N. Dixie Hwy., Wilton Manors
WHEN: Gallery hours, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday through Friday, 7 to 10 p.m., first and third Saturdays.
COST: Admission to the gallery is free.
INFORMATION: (954) 240-8307; artsunitedflorida.com/
This story was produced by Broward Arts Journalism Alliance (BAJA), an independent journalism program of the Broward County Cultural Division. Visit ArtsCalendar.com for more stories about the arts in South Florida.
Content Courtesy of Steve Rothaus, BAJA
