ABOUT THE PROJECTOnce upon a time…
April 1919: Fifteen sailors were arrested by the Navy and imprisoned aboard two decommissioned ships in Newport Harbor. Each man was caught in a sting targeting the city’s queer subculture. Instigated by Machinist’s Mate Ervin Arnold, this undercover operation required enlisted men to seduce and entrap other men at the Army and Navy YMCA, located at 50 Washington Square. The so-called Operators were ordered to write detailed daily reports about their encounters as evidence. In addition to their fellow Navy men, the Operators targeted a number of civilians including Episcopal minister Samuel Neal Kent and lunch counter waiter Duke Hawkins. A national scandal erupted in 1920 when the Navy’s extreme tactics were revealed.
Meanwhile…
May 1919: To entice new recruits, the Newport Naval Station mounted an elaborate production of R.A. Barnet and A.B. Sloane’s 1896 musical The Strange Adventures of Jack and the Beanstalk: A Fairy Extravaganza, touring the three-hour show around the region. Enlisted women were forbidden from performing in Navy productions, so all parts in the romantic adventure were played by men. The Navy advertised the show by boasting “Princess Mary will be prettier than ever before!”
ABOUT THE ARTISTSJason Tranchida & Matthew Lawrence are a collaborative team living in Providence, Rhode Island.
Matthew and Jason have worked on multiple art and curatorial projects including Headmaster, a project-based print magazine featuring original art and writing commissions. Headmaster frequently spotlights forgotten moments in gay/queer history, from an illustrated biography of singer Antonio Variações (the first confirmed AIDS victim in Portugal) to a sculptural biography of Alan Turing (published 18 months prior to the hit film The Imitation Game made Turing a household name).
Jason and Matthew have also produced a number of curated events including After School Special, a night of performance and interactive sculptural work at the RISD Museum. For the inaugural PVDFest, they received a public art grant from The Avenue Concept to produce AV Club, a looped video program screened inside a downtown gay bar.
Photo: John Hasselbarth