Art Collection

Neal's art collection brings together artwork from the 19th century to the present with a sustained focus on queer expression and its historical, social, and political contexts. The collection foregrounds artists whose work explores non-normative sexuality, particularly during periods when such expressions were censored, marginalized, or actively suppressed.

Situated within an art-historical framework, the collection emphasizes dialogue—between artists, across generations, and within queer communities—highlighting how shared conditions of marginalization have fostered both critical distance from dominant systems of power and a sense of collective belonging. Alongside queer artists, the collection also includes works by non-queer artists whose practices rigorously interrogate sexuality, identity, and the socio-political structures that shape them.

The collection is an extension of Dr. Baer’s long-standing commitment to AIDS and LGBTQ+ activism, including his service as a former board member of the ONE Archives Foundation, and is informed by his personal experience of coming out later in life. Since its inception in 2016, the collection has been advised and curated by Jelena Kristic, whose guidance has shaped its thematic coherence and historical depth.

Together, these works reflect an ongoing inquiry into how art can document lived experience, resist erasure, and offer frameworks for understanding power, care, and community across time.