Vans highlights four queer artists for Pride, including bearded photographer Sam McGuire

This Pride month, Vans has decided to highlight the achievements of four queer artists, including bearded skateboarder, photographer, and creative director Sam McGuire, who has been shooting for skateboard magazines and various brands around the globe for over a decade.

According to Out Magazine, the project will showcase four queer artists, who each do their own unique brand of art, that allows them to express who they are. Vans hopes that by doing this, they will help to acknowledge the global contributions of LGBTQ+ creatives, while uplifting these artists and inspiring others to achieve their dreams and goals. 

The other creatives involved with the project are Tyris Winter, “a multifaceted artist who blurs the lines between poetry, fashion, and dancing;” Serena Isioma, a 20-year-old, first-generation, Nigerian-American artist who combines alternative, indie, hip-hop, and R&B to create their own unique sound; and Mich Miller, an LA-based painter, printmaker, muralist, and installation artist whose “practice is informed by a commitment to abstraction and investment in printmaking, painting, design, queer histories, and queer theory.”

According to Jenkem Magazine, Sam McGuire spent years as a photographer and skateboarder who struggled with his sexuality before allowing the different aspects of himself to coexist. Sam made the choice to come out over a decade ago, and has since crafted a lane for himself as an internationally renowned skateboarder and photographer. 

In addition to highlighting these four queer artists, Vans has also donated a total of $200,000 to four global organizations that serve the LGBTQ+ community around the world. The organizations are GLSEN, Where Love Is Illegal, and Tokyo Rainbow Pride.

In a statement, Out Magazine thanked Vans for going beyond the usual corporate Pride month show and doing something that actually makes a difference. “In an age when multi-billion dollar companies battle to see who can make the best rainbow shoe or the brightest burger wrapper, we want to see more do things like this,” said Out. 

“Pride is really about supporting and celebrating queer people, and this is a much better way to do that than profiting off a shirt that says ‘Ally’ in rainbow letters. Thank you, Vans, for showing other companies how to do it!” 

Vans released a special video highlighting all four of the artists. Watch it below!