Out All Night: Senior Prom Reimagined uses prom as a starting point for dialogue about coming of age in a heteronormative culture. Sherer’s series features 52 recreated vintage prom photos, donated by LGBTQ elders in the South. Intimate interviews revealed stories of hiding, humor, oppression, irony, harmful coping mechanisms, advocacy, and self-acceptance—the emotional core of the series. Sherer reworked original prom photos dated from 1956 to 2000, adding handwritten text and oil pencil color, transforming them into visual poems of LGBTQ experiences.
The result is a counter-archive of Southern LGBTQ life—restoring visibility to stories long kept quiet. Sherer reframes a once-constraining ritual as a site of affirmation and joy. These portraits are no longer silent artifacts—they now speak of humor, isolation and courage, conformity and resistance, memory and reclamation. Out All Night transforms a frozen moment into an enduring act of visibility and tribute to community, inviting viewers to reflect on stories that often go untold.
The exhibit premiered in April 2026 at a one-night-only prom event celebrating the photos’ participants. It was then publicly displayed at the Magic City Wellness Center in Birmingham, Alabama. The exhibit will be available for travel in Fall 2026.