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 now executive director of ArtsUnited, a nonprofit Broward organization formed 25 years ago to help LGBTQ artists promote themselves and their work. In September, ArtsUnited acquired the HOTspots Happening Out Art Gallery in Wilton Manors, which Dean had managed.
On Tuesday, Dec. 3, ArtsUnited will host its first “Dirty Santa” holiday fundraiser at the new gallery at 2401 Dixie Highway on Wilton Manors’ growing North Dixie Highway arts district.
As a student at Sylacauga High School in Alabama, Dean shot yearbook photos and athletic events, making him a well-liked local personality. Sylacauga photographer Don Smith mentored the teen, teaching him “everything about the camera and the darkroom,” recalls Dean.
Interesting tidbit about Sylacauga, a small rural city 40 miles southeast of Birmingham: Its most famous hometown hero happens to be another gay man – TV’s Gomer Pyle, the late singer and actor Jim Nabors.
Dinner with ‘Gomer Pyle’
By 1993, Dean had worked 10 years as executive director of the Birmingham Summerfest theater company. Through that job he met Nabors, who was in town to perform a concert. After the show, the two went to dinner. “I want to invite you,” Nabors told Dean, who grew up blocks from the Jim Nabors Highway. “I want to talk about our interests, what we have in common.”
Nabors, who at the time was publicly closeted – and falsely rumored to be in a secret marriage with movie star Rock Hudson – confided to Dean he had a partner in Hawaii “and that we have a great life, but a private life.”
In 2017, Nabors died at 87 in Honolulu. Dean recalls the simple advice he gave him during their dinner together: “Enjoy your life.”
Dean, 61, says he took Nabors’ advice and in 1995 moved to South Florida, where he became general manager of the now defunct Fort Lauderdale Players theater company.
Hobby becomes career
“My photography was a hobby, shooting actors and models for headshots,” says Dean. “Then, I met an art director from the [gay] publication ‘David’ magazine and he said, ‘Oh my gosh, I love your photography.’ He was looking at my work on the walls of my house. He said, ‘Whose is that?’ I said it’s mine. He said, ‘Would you do our covers? We need somebody with this artistic eye.’”
“It changed my path because my hobby became my career,” says Dean, a blonde, bespectacled Andy Warhol lookalike. “It really worked out.”
In 1999, Dean 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.
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.
Even before the COVID pandemic, it became clear to Dean and other board members that ArtsUnited might not survive. Fundraising and membership revenue dropped from $45,574 in 2018 to $22,159 in 2019.
‘We can’t let this die’
“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.’
“That’s when I became the vice president and wanted to take this to the next level, bringing in artists to build the membership base. That's what we're doing.”
In addition to the gallery, ArtsUnited now 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.
Individual and family memberships provide artists with space on the ArtsUnited website to display their bios, social media addresses, contact information and work samples.
Dean says ArtsUnited membership is now more than 220.
After serving as ArtsUnited’s board vice president since 2019, Dean stepped down in July to become the group’s full-time executive director.
“The wonderful thing about Dennis Dean is that he is just such a trailblazer in his own right, but he always sets the path for other aspiring artists,” says colleague Fay Albernas, host of “The Fay What?! Show” on //www.youtube.com/@Happeningouttelevision" style="text-decoration: none;">Happening Out Television Network, a streaming television service that originates in Fort Lauderdale, broadcasting out of a space at Sunshine Cathedral. “When he was head of the HOTspots Happening Out Gallery, he put on these exhibitions every month. People were going there to see Dennis Dean's portraits and his pictures, but he made it about the new, up-and-coming artists.”
Breast cancer awareness exhibit
Albernas, herself, is one of Dean’s best-known recent models.
Three years ago, she underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Dean’s sister, Donna Dean Phillips, died of breast cancer in 2012, days before her 52nd birthday. In October 2023, Dean organized a gallery exhibit for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
He asked Albernas to pose for an exhibit photo similar to one he shot of Donna when she was ill. “He wanted to make something that would be memorable and would remind him of his sister,” she says.
In the updated photo, Albernas is nude except for a large pink ribbon draped around her body.
“We named it ‘Wrapped in Strength,’” says Albernas, a co-anchor on HOTspots Happening Out’s daily “Queer News Tonight” program.
Juried photography exhibit
Each month, Dean curates a new exhibit at the ArtsUnited Gallery. On Saturday, Dec. 7, the gallery opens an exhibit featuring past ArtsUnited Best of Show winners through Saturday, Dec. 28.
In November, Dean presented “Catch the Moment,” the gallery’s first juried photography exhibit.
Edward Hashek, immediate past president of Funding Arts Broward (FAB), which supports local visual and performing arts, and his husband, landscape designer John Jors, were invited by Dean to be judges.
“It was an honor to be asked. I've been involved with the arts from more of a volunteer perspective for probably 40-some years,” says Hashek, a retired IT executive who served on arts boards in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and now lives with Jors primarily in Fort Lauderdale.
The day before the official exhibit opening, Hashek and Jors visited ArtsUnited Gallery and looked at 67 pieces of art representing 30 artists.
“We went around on our own and we just kind of did our first scan,” says Hashek. “And then he and I discussed what made this artwork important, or what did it say to us? That's how we got down to the six that were recognized. The good thing about doing it the day before – none of the pieces of art had labels on them in terms of [artist’s] name, or even title.”
An ‘impressive’ event
The night of the opening, Hashek was startled not just by the quality of the art, but also by the attendance.
“This event was so impressive,” he says. “You could barely move in the gallery that night. Plus, I'm impressed with ArtsUnited in terms of the diversity of the types of art. It’s not just photography. It’s different visual arts. But it's also performance art. I think that is a real hallmark of having, through different channels, an impact on the arts here in Broward. I think it's such a positive organization for the arts community here in Broward.”
Best in show: ‘Self Love’
The photograph they deemed best in show was a black-and-white portrait of two nude men, their arms around each other, by photographer Yanni De Melo of Coral Springs.
It’s actually two self-portraits of De Melo digitally combined into a single photograph and titled “Self Love.”
“The most challenging aspect about it was to make sure the poses were going to be synchronized together when I would do the final edit,” says De Melo. “But setting up the lights and putting everything into a self-timer, to me, it's not that difficult anymore. The most challenging thing is working in the post-production of it, to make sure it unifies together.”
Like Dean, De Melo was a teenager when he first studied photography. After graduating from William T. McFatter Technical High School in Davie, De Melo earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography at Barry University in Miami Shores.
De Melo first met Dean about 10 years ago.
“I was a student of yoga at the time, so I was like very bendy. I was known at the time for my yoga, so that's how Dennis came into my life, and he shot me doing yoga poses,” recalls De Melo. “We remained in touch throughout these years through social media.”
When De Melo learned Dean was involved with ArtsUnited, he decided to join.
“Dirty Santa” fundraiser
HOTspots, a nonprofit LGBTQ media and events company based in Wilton Manors, is sponsoring – along with Our Fund Foundation and the Warten Foundation – ArtsUnited’s upcoming inaugural “Dirty Santa” fundraiser.
“This is definitely a fundraiser, and we wanted to do it on Giving Tuesday,” says Dean. “We said this is perfect: It’s in December, so let's make it a holiday. Let's do something that hasn't been done. Make it fun. Then, I thought back when I was growing up, we played the game Dirty Santa. Some people call it White Elephant. Some people call it Secret Santa. But we’re going to call it Dirty Santa.
“And let’s have artists donate their work. The VIP ticket would be $250. Those VIPs are guaranteed to get artwork from award-winning artists.” The take-home artworks, Dean says, will each be valued up to $2,500.
Deiler Beltran, known as “Carlos,” the owner of Myth Gastrobar on Wilton Drive, will host the event as “Dirty Santa.”
South Florida drag legend Adora (Danilo De La Torre) will DJ. Also to be featured: a performance by Hollywood singer Alice Gabsi, and a “culinary dinner” sponsored by Wilton Manors Commissioner Don D'Arminio and his partner, Marc Martorana.
‘A beacon for local artists’
De Melo says ArtsUnited serves an important role in the arts community.
“It’s truly a beacon for local artists. Not only just for local artists, but for LGBTQ artists,” says De Melo. “Wilton Manors has always been such a supportive community for me and for many other people that I know. This is our neighborhood.”
De Melo also appreciates having Dean as a mentor.
“I’m 31 now. I was 20 years old when I met Dennis. I was still in school and was very much finding my style,” says De Melo. “At the time when Dennis photographed me, and I was exposed to his work, I really appreciated his photography and I felt it was very inspiring for me.
“He really is an inspiring figure – not just for myself but for many people.”
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; Dirty Santa Fundraiser, 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3
COST: Admission to gallery is free except for special events; fundraiser tickets are $250, VIP; $50, general, $35 members at artsunitedflorida.com/tickets/
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.
