Allyson McDuffie is a mixed media visual artist based in Boulder, CO, whose work explores the intersections between distant nebulous memory, queer (be)longing, societal norms, resilience, and place. 

She often employs humor and satire to subvert the seriousness of difficult topics. “Throughout my life, my work has attempted to speak to the way personal experiences and memory recall of those experiences that can morph over time shape our understanding of place and the world around us. My most successful pieces are simplified forms that hint at a deeper emotional resonance. They are reluctantly optimistic; simultaneously an exploration of hardships and a celebration of the beauty in our contradictory society. They are comical and poignant.” 

More than fifty hand-tufted, 24-inch “merit badges” reference the familiar emblems traditionally sewn onto scouting sashes—symbols meant to mark achievement, belonging, and moral character. In this exhibition, however, some badges hold language historically used against LGBTQ+ people. Slurs gradually give way to terms that have been reclaimed, redefined, or celebrated within the LGBTQ+ community. 

Through this shift, the work traces how language can wound, but also how communities reshape it into symbols of resilience and pride. The badges become both evidence and armor—markers of endurance that acknowledge harm while asserting self-definition.