LGBTQ+ Art and Artists of Central Pennsylvania

Jude Sharp is a crafts person, an artist, a jeweler and a lesbian. She was born in November of 1947 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and has lived most of her live in Central PA. Jude opened her first jewelry shop at 21 with her ex-husband in Denver Colorado. After moving back to Central Pennsylvania Jude met her first girlfriend. Her current store, J.A.  Sharp Custom Jeweler is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Jude Sharp has crafted jewelry in her laundry room, dining room, and studios - anywhere she could create. 

Jude Sharp grew up moving around between different towns in Pennsylvania following her father's job as a Methodist minister. Her mother worked from home raising Jude and her two younger sisters as well as performing the role of the minister's wife. Possibly influenced by moving around a lot as a kid or her budding queer identity, Jude recalls feeling like an outsider in her schools, "I always felt like an outsider but I don’t know whether that was because of me or because I was moving around I always sort of thought it was ‘cause of me." Jude graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls and has a high opinion of schools segregated by gender through high school. From there Jude attended Tyler College of Art in Philadelphia, a part of Temple University. 

When asked about when she came out Jude talked about the freedom of realizing her identity as a lesbian woman when she began dating her first girlfriend. Jude also remarks on her regret at not discovering that aspect of herself earlier. Jude Sharp's youngest sister, Cate came out to their parents 3 years earlier than Jude. While her parents did not have the best reaction when Cate came out, by the time Jude was in a same-sex relationship and felt the need to come out they had settled in. Jude recollects what Cate said to her when she came out, "Wow, all I can say is that its about time." Jude says that her family was accepting of her sexual identity. Her father, a Methodist minister, went so far as to write an essay to present to other ministers debunking the idea that scripture was anti-homosexuality. 

Jude Sharp was able to start working in a commercial jewelers right after graduating from Tyler College of Art, where she worked for about a year doing repair and assembly work. After that she worked part time on Jewelers Row at the same time she was making jewelry at home. She credits her early work experience with teaching her techniques of jewelry making and how to make it a career she could live off of. Jude opened her first jewelry store in Denver Colorado at the age of 21 after moving their with her ex-husband. Jude briefly lived in California with her then-girlfriend before returning to Pennsylvania in 1979. Starting then, she made prosthetic legs and other orthotics for 5 years, making jewelry in her dinning room whenever she could. Jude Sharp then opened Sharp Jewelers with her partner Sue Martin in the summer of 1984 in Lancaster. While their romantic relationship did not continue their business partnership did until they sold Sharp Jewelers in 2001. Jude's current store is named J.A. Sharp Custom Jewelers, which she sold to Andrea M. Amey in 2019. Jude continues to work there creating custom jewelry using responsibly-sourced stones from historic downtown Lancaster city. 

Jude Sharp does not credit her identity as lesbian as a factor or influence in her pursuit of art, as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and an artist, her craft and queerness are inherently linked through her. In her life Sharp opened several different jewelry shops, as discussed above, it's notable that for Sharp Jewelry and JA Sharp Custom Jewelers, Jude opened both business in conjunction with her partner at the time. This is a relatively small detail, though notable nonetheless. Jude would often also go to pride celebrations and women's festivals to sell jewelry from a booth, and advertise in the Lavender Letter, a newsletter for the lesbian and Sapphic community in and around Central Pennsylvania at the time (see image). ​

Jude Sharp also remarks of the sense of community and love she felt when working with other members of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Paul Foltz is a custom designer, teacher, performer, and a gay man. He grew up in Steelton, Pennsylvania and now resides in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Paul is widely recognized in the Greater Harrisburg area primarily known for his role as Theatre Harrisburg's resident costume designer where he has worked since 1981. Paul also works as an adjunct faculty member for the Harrisburg Area Community College in their theatre department as well as runs his own small costume and design business. In addition to Paul's craft he was a founding member of the Harrisburg Men's Chorus and raised money for AIDS patients with Lily White and Company. 

Paul grew up in Steelton, Pennsylvania in a strict Catholic household and later went to a Catholic college. Paul mentions his Catholic background and proximity to the church as a major factor of his confusion about his sexual orientation in his early life. Paul graduated with a degree in English Language and Literature from Saint Anselm College before going abroad to get a graduate degree in theatre studies. While abroad in London, England Paul first started living as an openly gay man. 

  "But when I came back here with my family, because I had been living so openly for close to two years, I just figured, [laughing] “I’m not going back in the closet! God, no!”

-Paul Foltz, Oral History, March 2015

Paul Foltz recounts his coming out in conjunction with his time abroad in London. At the time that he was there London had recently decriminalized homosexual acts leading to a growing strong and open LGBTQ+ community. This encouraged him to be open with himself and others about his own sexual orientation. Upon returning to the United States, Paul continued to live openly as himself. He recounts his coming out to his parents individually, remarking on being "pretty lucky" because his coming out was relatively simple. Paul has always lived his life based on the principle "you take me as you get me," he mentions never coming directly out to others after his parents, never saying "surprise, I'm gay," but also never tried to hide who he was. 

Paul Foltz has been involved in theater for most of his life. The theater is both a place of expression, community, and passion for Paul. One of the main ways he interacts with the theater scene has been through costumes design and creation. Paul's costumes vary in style, era, extravagance, and gender, but are each works of art. Paul recounted feeling connected and accepted within the realm of theater as a gay man, jokingly saying that "if you're not gay in the theater, everyone just assumes you are anyway."