Gay and Lesbian Art Museum Inc.

What Gay and Lesbian Art Museum Inc. does

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (legal entity: Gay and Lesbian Art Museum Inc.) operates as a single-site, non-profit art museum located at 26 Wooster Street in SoHo, New York City. Founded as a collecting practice in 1969 by Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman, formalized as the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation in 1990 (the first U.S. foundation with 'gay' in its name), and accredited as a museum in 2016, the institution is the only dedicated LGBTQIA+ art museum in the United States. Its core business is the collection, preservation, and exhibition of queer art, anchored by a permanent collection of over 30,000 artworks that includes work rescued from artists during the AIDS crisis. The museum serves LGBTQIA+ artists, scholars, and activists who lack institutional representation, as well as the general public, art enthusiasts, and allies.

The museum's products and services span rotating exhibitions, a permanent collection accessible via the online ZetCom database, an annual Artist Fellowship Program, The Archive (digital essays and interviews), public programs (storytelling workshops, artist talks, performances), a museum shop, a Kindful-based donation platform, and a membership program. Underlying technology is limited to a digital collection catalog and standard web properties; AI/ML is not part of the operating model. The museum's revenue model is a hybrid of earned and contributed income: $10 suggested admission donations, membership subscriptions, online shop sales (postcards, prints, merchandise), individual donations, and transformational funding from a broad base of major foundations (Mellon, Ford, Andy Warhol, Henry Luce, Terra, Rockefeller Brothers, Keith Haring, Stonewall) and government cultural agencies (NY State Council on the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs). Corporate partners include Christie's and Farrow & Ball through the Neighborhood Council.

The go-to-market motion is community- and event-driven: exhibitions, public programs, fellowships, and partnerships drive visitor acquisition, fundraising, and membership conversion. The institution operates with approximately 16 staff members and is governed by a Board of Trustees led by President Diane Felicio, with Executive Director Alyssa Nitchun overseeing operations. The museum reaches global audiences through its digital channels and, more recently, through curatorial collaborations with peer institutions such as the Vincent Price Art Museum.

Name

Gay and Lesbian Art Museum Inc.

Legal name

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art

Website

https://leslielohman.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (Gay and Lesbian Art Museum Inc.) is the only U.S. museum dedicated to LGBTQIA+ art, presenting exhibitions, a 30,000+ artwork permanent collection, fellowships, and public programs from its SoHo, New York location for queer artists, scholars, and the public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Art Museum and Cultural Institution

NAICS

Museums (71211), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Museums (712110)

akta.pro primary industry

Art Museums (THAJADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH), Museum, Zoo & Attraction Gift Shops (CRALAJAG), Visual Arts (Drawing, Painting, Illustration) (EDAAAGAA), Arts & Crafts Workshops (Painting, Pottery, Ceramics, Sculpture) (THAJAKAA)

Keywords

• LGBTQIA+ art exhibitions
• Museum exhibitions
• Permanent art collection
• Artist fellowship programs
• Queer cultural programming

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Admissions Donations: Suggested donation of $10 per visitor to tour the museum
2. Membership Program: Join/membership program for ongoing supporter engagement
3. Shop and Merchandise: Online shop selling postcards, prints, and merchandise. Shop at shopleslielohman.org
4. Direct Donations: Donations accepted online and upon arrival. Funded by transformational funds from foundations including Mellon, Ford, Andy Warhol Foundation, and others
5. Corporate and Institutional Support: Support from corporate partners including Christie s, Farrow & Ball, and others through Neighborhood Council. Institutional funding from government and private foundations

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art presents LGBTQIA+ visual art through rotating exhibitions, a permanent collection of more than 30,000 artworks, an annual Artist Fellowship Program, an Archive of essays and interviews on queer art, public programs (storytelling workshops, artist talks, performances), a museum shop selling prints and merchandise, an online donation platform, and a membership program. The museum operates a single physical site in SoHo, New York, complemented by digital access to the collection and online programming.

Product overview

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art operates as a single-site physical museum and cultural institution dedicated to LGBTQIA+ artists. The institution offers a unified portfolio of services centered on its core mission: collecting, preserving, and presenting queer art. Key offerings include rotating exhibitions of LGBTQIA+ art and artists; a permanent collection of over 30,000 artworks accessible via online catalog; an annual Artist Fellowship Program providing professional development and mentorship; The Archive featuring essays, profiles, and interviews on queer art history; public programs including storytelling workshops, artist talks, and community events; an online museum shop; an online donation platform; and a membership program. These offerings are integrated through the museum's physical location at 26 Wooster Street in New York City and its digital presence.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Museum Exhibitions Rotating and traveling exhibitions showcasing LGBTQIA+ art and artists across various media and historical periods; presented physically at the museum and through online exhibition pages.
• Permanent Collection A growing permanent collection of over 30,000 artworks by queer artists, accessible for research, display, and online catalog browsing via the digital collection database.
• Artist Fellowship Program Annual program empowering and supporting queer artists through professional development workshops, mentorship, and community building.
• The Archive Digital archive featuring essays, profiles, and interviews on queer art, history, and culture.
• Public Programs Events including storytelling workshops, artist talks, performances, and educational programming for community engagement.
• Museum Shop Online retail store selling merchandise including artwork postcards, prints, and LGBTQIA+ themed items.
• Donation Platform Online giving platform accepting tax-deductible donations to support museum operations and programs.
• Membership Program Annual membership providing benefits including free admission, exclusive events, and discounts at the museum shop.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• The Generations ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates on Queer Caribbean Narratives in Art storytelling workshops and performance programs
• Vincent Price Art MuseummajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organized Laura Aguilar retrospective exhibition in collaboration with UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture: NYPL research center in Harlem preserving Black culture and history. Comparable as a foundational identity-focused cultural institution in NYC with archive, exhibitions, fellowships, and public programs — though embedded within a larger public library system.
• New Museum: Major NYC contemporary art museum with strong focus on underrepresented artists. Broader incumbent that intersects with Leslie-Lohman's mission of showcasing marginalized voices, but operates at significantly larger scale and broader scope.
• Museum of the City of New York: NYC civic museum with broader historical scope. Adjacent incumbent in the NYC museum landscape with comparable reliance on city and foundation funding, though focused on city history rather than identity-specific art.
• The Studio Museum in Harlem: NYC museum dedicated to work by artists of African descent. Comparable as a category-defining identity-focused art museum with fellowship programs (Artist-in-Residence) and strong foundation funding, but with a different identity focus.

Direct peers

• Visual AIDS: Nonprofit that uses visual art to fight AIDS and support artists living with HIV. Closely comparable as a small NYC-based nonprofit leveraging queer art, exhibitions, and community programs — overlapping mission around preserving and presenting LGBTQIA+ artistic responses to the AIDS crisis.
• Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art: Small NYC nonprofit art institution in the Lower East Side presenting contemporary exhibitions and public programs. Comparable in scale, nonprofit structure, single-location operating model, and reliance on foundation + membership revenue.
• The Drawing Center: Small SoHo-based nonprofit art institution focused on drawing as a primary medium. Comparable scale and operating model as a single-site SoHo museum with rotating exhibitions, education programs, and a downtown NYC audience.
• Axel & Boris Lurie / Tom of Finland Foundation: Los Angeles-based nonprofit foundation dedicated to erotic and queer art preservation. Comparable as a category-defining LGBTQ+ art preservation organization, though LA-based and focused specifically on erotic art rather than broader LGBTQIA+ visual art.
• ONE Archives at the USC Libraries: Direct peer as a foundational LGBTQ+ history and culture archive/museum. Comparable as a category-defining institution preserving queer heritage through collections, exhibitions, and public programs, though oriented more toward archival materials than visual art.

Emerging players

• Queer Art Project (Fierce Pussy / Queer Reads): Smaller, emerging queer art initiative. Comparable mission but limited collection depth and infrastructure, representing the next tier of LGBTQIA+ art organizations that may grow into more established institutions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/leslie-lohman-museum-of-art

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles25 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gay and Lesbian Art Museum Inc.