Ed and Art - San Francisco Bay Times

"When Ed Decker created the New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) in 1981 in San Francisco's Civic Center, he was focused on theatre for low-income youth. NCTC has since blossomed into a cultural icon. At the time of NCTC's founding, I was still living in New York City and had just joined the lesbian literary magazine collective Conditions. Ed and I were traveling vastly divergent paths, but had some external elements in common."

"Ronald Reagan was president and his fear of the Black Panther Party carrying guns led him to instigate the one time the U.S. wanted gun control. The Meese Commission was condemning our newly liberated female eroticism as pornography. And we were all united against two things: the Briggs Initiative, which would have forbidden queer teachers the right to teach in public schools; and HIV/AIDS, the pandemic whose name never crossed Reagan's lips."

"This was the tumultuous time of art and politics that helped form who Ed Decker and I are today. So, when we met in 2001, we had some common cultural points of reference, but we were also very different. I'd just joined the staff of the San Francisco Arts Commission as a grantmaker, and my office was in a tiny basement room across the hall from NCTC."

Ed Decker created the New Conservatory Theatre Center in 1981 in San Francisco's Civic Center with a focus on theatre for low-income youth. NCTC later became a cultural icon. During the Reagan era, fear of the Black Panther Party spurred a rare push for gun control, the Meese Commission labeled liberated female eroticism as pornography, and communities united against the Briggs Initiative and HIV/AIDS. Queer culture expanded nationwide through the Women's Press Movement, emerging lesbian musicians, and new theatrical artists. Jewelle Gomez joined the San Francisco Arts Commission and developed a deep, ongoing connection with Ed Decker after meeting in 2001.

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