​JEROME SUNNY-SIDE UP: A Tasteful Family Celebration

The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland and The Jerome Project team up to bring you a tasteful celebration honoring the creative brilliance of the late Jerome Caja — JEROME SUNNY-SIDE UP. This is an evening of fun, food and frolic in tandem with the current art exhibition on display — JEROME'S HOME: A Show of Motherly Love.

Anthony Cianciolo (director of The Jerome Project) and Bernardine Caja (Jerome's mother) curated the exhibition, and together they will host this evening event. All are welcome (please RSVP and see details below).

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​JEROME CAJA
(1958 -1995)

Painter, Prankster, Performer — Jerome was a radical queer artist who produced a profound body of work. He created exquisite miniatures painted with everything you would find in a drag queen's handbag (nail polish, lipstick, eyeliner, glitter). He was only 37 when he died from complications related to HIV/AIDS.

DESCRIPTION

JEROME SUNNY-SIDE UP is a joyful gathering of Clevelanders who are proud of their "Mistake on the Lake" roots. Come join us in a kitchen-table discussion and let's revel in Jerome's unique gallows humor. The spotlight will be on the Caja family's art collection, including several additional complimentary pieces that will be on display only for this one-off event. We will also have a public unveiling of Jerome's new AIDS Quilt panel, which will be donated to the Names Project when the show ends.

LOGISTICS

Location: LGBT Center Cleveland
6705 Detroit Ave, Cleveland, OH 44102
Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025
Time: 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Phone: (216) 651-5428

Food & Drink: Light snacks will be provided with vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Parking: There is limited parking in the lot behind the building, which has two accessible parking spots. There is also plenty of street parking on Detroit Avenue right in front.

RSVP: Because this is a free event open to the public, we kindly ask that everyone fill out the form so we can plan ahead of time and be able to accommodate everyone — Thank you!

​This is a new exhibition on display at the Greater Cleveland LGBT Community Center. ​Most of this artwork comes from the private collection of Bernardine Caja and the late John Caja (Jerome’s parents). It has never been displayed in its entirety until now.

​TRANS + JEROME: An Evening of Mischief and Insight

The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland teams up with The Jerome Project to bring you TRANS + JEROME: An Evening of Mischief and Insight. This is a community event in tandem with the Jerome Caja art exhibition that is currently on display, JEROME'S HOME: A Queer Show of Motherly Love.

​Anthony Cianciolo (director of The Jerome Project) and Bernardine Caja (Jerome's mother) curated the exhibition, and together they will host this evening event.

​The goal is to inspire heartfelt conversations around full acceptance (not just tolerance) of LGBTQ+ and HIV+ people.

​
​JEROME CAJA
(1958 -1995)

Painter, Prankster, Performer -- Jerome was a radical queer artist who produced a profound body of work. He created exquisite miniatures painted with everything you would find in a drag queen's handbag (nail polish, lipstick, eyeliner, glitter). He was only 37 when he died from complications related to HIV/AIDS.

​EVENT DESCRIPTION

​TRANS + JEROME is an intergenerational community discussion on where Jerome Caja falls (or doesn’t fall) on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, and the importance of both free speech and radical self expression in America during a hateful cultural war targeting trans people today.

​This is a new exhibition on display at the Greater Cleveland LGBT Community Center. ​Most of this artwork comes from the private collection of Bernardine Caja and the late John Caja (Jerome’s parents). It has never been displayed in its entirety until now. ​​

EVENT LOGISTICS 

Location: LGBT Center Cleveland
6705 Detroit Ave, Cleveland, OH 44102
Date: Friday, February 7, 2025
Time: 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Phone: (216) 651-5428

Food & Drink: Light snacks will be provided with vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Parking: There is limited parking in the lot behind the building, which has two accessible parking spots. There is also plenty of street parking on Detroit Avenue right in front.

RSVP: Because this is a free event open to the public, we kindly ask that everyone fill out the online form so we can plan ahead of time and be able to accommodate everyone. You can either click on the button below or scan the QR code to the right — Thank you!

​​Founded in 1975, the center serves as a hub for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies by offering programs, services, and support to advance inclusion, equity, and well-being.

​Dear Jerome Lovers . . .

Thank you all for your patience, especially over the last few years when we hunkered down behind closed doors during the worst of COVID. I have been really productive during this time. Not only have I been working intensely on the film, but I have also been working on various exhibitions, publications, presentations and fundraising opportunities that I am excited to share with you.
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Jerome’s brilliant, long lasting contributions to the world came out of the AIDS pandemic in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Unsurprisingly, 28 years after his death in 1995, his challenging art has reemerged and now thrives stronger than ever in the wake of another pandemic.

Jerome Loves to Revel in the Messiness of Humanity
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When the world first tried to open back up in June of 2021 and we were all trying to find some new sense of normalcy from COVID lockdown, shockingly we found ourselves quarantined again and watched as everyone retreated back into their homes. During this time I was working with Anglim/Trimble Gallery on a solo Jerome exhibition. Nothing stopped that exhibition from happening. Mask mandates were back in place and community gatherings were either abruptly canceled or heavily monitored and extremely pared down.

​Regardless, the show went on. FOUND: The Lost Art of Jerome Caja was a success on many fronts. Even with limited and staggered accessibility for viewing and little public programming, the show significantly moved the needle forward for Jerome, especially the film. The show teased out the ending to my documentary. My patience has paid off over all these years. I cannot wait to share it with you in its completed form. It is heart-felt, uncompromising, enlightening and totally in alignment with Jerome.

Now with that said, I am currently in the production phase, building a rough assembly cut of the documentary. The following highlights (all of which have propelled the film forward and many of which will be included in the film) are what I have been up to over the last several years.

DOCUMENTARY FILM

When I ventured on this crazy journey back in 2010 I wanted to shine a light on Jerome's brilliance as a Painter, Prankster, Performer and spotlight the cultural impact he had on queer San Francisco in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Over the years as I became inundated with Jerome’s work and life story, I realized the documentary also needs to explore — Who is the man behind the scary drag mask? Where is his place in the larger contemporary art narrative?  And why is he not a household name like Hieronymus Bosch, Oscar Wilde and Divine?

​With this new, deeper trajectory, I found a bizarre and fascinating story with a wildly different end to the film. Discovering a unique ending is what every documentarian grapples with, and it is why most docs never make it out of development. It all comes down to a really good transformational story that lands on an unexpected ending, and it has to be told in an interesting way that is unlike any other film out there.
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• I completely rewrote my film treatment with a five-act story structure and powerful new ending. This is now the scaffolding for the doc. It is complex, theatrical and cinematic.​
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• I started storyboarding hand-drawn 2/D animation sequences that will be peppered throughout the film. They have a traditional fine-art look that compliments Jerome’s weird, witchy warmth.
  
  
• I am privately workshopping the film with art advisors, film producers, and Jerome collectors who have been extremely supportive. Some are new and many of them have been with me since the inception of this project. Their response has been extremely helpful and affirming.
  
  
• I have a new office at Ninth Street Independent Film Center (IFC), which is in San Francisco’s Civic Center area and in an office building that used to be the old Film Arts Foundation. I am part of a filmmaker residency and incubator program that is under the same roof as independent film organizations like Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), Frameline (LGBTQ+ Film Festival), Jewish Film Institute (JFI & Jewish Film Festival) and Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). I could not be positioned better at this stage of production.
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• I am cataloging all of my archival footage. This media is the foundation of the documentary, and it changed the final form of the film, which is now a three-part docuseries. This is a huge turn of events. Originally I set out to make a short, which then quickly turned into a feature, and appropriately is now a docuseries. This new three-part format allows for a definitive, more complex story on Jerome, and most importantly it allows the viewer to take Jerome (and his life story) in digestible bites. Docuseries are now the preferred format for viewers and streaming platforms.
  
  
• I have over 75% of my principal photography in the can. This footage illustrates where Jerome is today. It includes interviews with Adam Klein, Ana van der Meulen, Bernardine Caja (Jerome’s mother), and several other family members in Ohio. The bulk of it was shot in San Francisco (my home & various galleries) and Cleveland (several homes of friends & family). The Cleveland shoot was intense. It was done over 7 days, 12 hours per day, and I got pure gold on film!
  
  
• I am also recording audio interviews for the film and repository. I commissioned Paul Karlstrom to do a two-day intensive oral history interview with Anna van der Meulen. After the doc comes out, I will donate Anna’s interview to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art as a companion piece to Paul’s original oral history interview with Jerome.
  
  
• I have been collaborating with the composer Daniel De Togni. We met through the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), and since then he has composed several beautiful classical piano pieces specifically for the film's score and soundtrack.
  
  
• I have been filming and documenting all of the exhibitions I curated over the past years (including the most recent, FOUND: The Lost Art of Jerome Caja, and also the pop-up show I did at SFMOMA a while back), all of which will be highlights in the docuseries.
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• I am currently working with several couples who have significant collections of Jerome’s art that I had not seen before. They have been very generous with their time and allowed me to document their collections. They are also looking forward to having their art be a big part of the finished film.

FUNDRAISING

I have been very fortunate to receive two early-on development grants from Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) that were funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This is how I digitized more than 100 hours of video. I have also been given several residencies that include below-market-rate rent for office space in San Francisco by SFFILM and Ninth Street Independent Film Center, where I am currently.

​Aside from that, I have never asked for or borrowed money from anyone. Most documentary filmmakers do multiple fundraising campaigns (development, production & distribution) and end up taxing their supporters. I chose to not go this route. Instead, I personally bank-rolled the other 85% of development and pre-production costs, with the help from a handful of generous angel investors close to the project who supported the film shoots.

This combined support has allowed me to move at a strong, secure pace with the film.
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Now that I am squarely in the production phase, I will eventually need financing to pay for an editor and VFX animator in the post-production phase. This is the most costly part of the filmmaking process. In 8-10 months I will be positioned perfectly for the launch of my online finishing-fund campaign. Stay tuned for details.

PLEASE NOTE: This entire list of accomplishments and works in progress is abridged, and I am happy to share more in person with anyone interested. My office is always open to you. I am also open to all kinds of fundraising suggestions (private & public) and am happy to bring The Jerome Project to you in the privacy of your home if you are in the Bay Area or Greater Los Angeles area.

Thank You for Your Support

In closing, ​I want to give a big, heartfelt thank-you to everyone who has shared their stories and art with me. I could not be doing this without your generosity and help.

If anybody else wants to participate, again feel free to contact me. The project just keeps getting stronger the more people who love Jerome get involved. I am happy to meet and discuss practical, doable collaborations, especially with museums interested in a Jerome Caja retrospective. Any museum contacts and leads are greatly appreciated in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Cleveland, New York, and Europe. You can contact me here through The Jerome Project website and schedule a visit.

I look forward to updating again soon.
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