On Sunday, September 8, 2024, The Portland Queer Arts hosted its inaugural Portland Queer Arts Spectacular, an event focused on uplifting local queer artists and performers, at Alberta Rose Theatre in Northeast Portland.
The event featured dance performances by Open Space Dance and Tony Carnell; music by Kimo Camat with Juliet Terrill and Mak Kastelic, Matt Katz, and Patrick Rowley with Garrett Bond; spoken word performances by Roxy Allen, Avery Gadling, and Sage Lilac; drag performances by Val E. Dation (who also served as Drag Queen of Ceremonies) and Fool’isha; and video art by Michael Gearheart.
“We could not have asked for a better response from the community for our first event,” said Portland Queer Arts co-founder John T. Perry. “Our goal is to create a platform for performers to showcase their art in a way that is authentically queer and authentically themselves, and I think our audience came away with an overwhelming sense of that authenticity.”
Portland Queer Arts got its start earlier this year, found by Perry, a 20-year veteran of the tech industry and supporter of the arts, and Artistic Director, Alex Frazier, alongside entertainment industry veteran Chryssa Cooke Sanders, and Scouting America Cascade Pacific Council CEO and Portland Gay Men’s Chorus Board Chair, Gary Carroll. This burgeoning new organization was created to support local queer artists through grants, scholarship programs, and events such as the Spectacular.
The deeply emotional show spanned the full spectrum of emotions, filling the audience with laughter and a few tears. “The opening ‘spectacular’ of Portland Queer Arts delivered exactly as billed… and then some! Showcasing the vast and diverse talents which exists within the queer community here, it took me on an emotional journey— laughter, tears, and everything in between.” said Ihsan Rustem, award winning Artistic Director of the Swiss dance company Cie. La Ronde and Resident Choreographer for the NW Dance Project. “I have one simple measure for performances: goosebumps, and they popped up in abundance. Visibility matters. Kudos to the phenomenal team for such masterful curation and breathtaking performances!”
“I am thrilled at the audience response to the Spectacular,” said Portland Queer Arts co-founder and Artistic Director, Alex Frazier. “Our artists shared deeply personal and searing stories and our audience did not disappoint with their enthusiasm and support throughout the night.”
Frazier is already excited to bring more queer stories to the stage, “Portland has a unique culture of openness and depth of empathy that was on full display last Sunday. I’m so grateful to live in this city, to be able to work with these artists, and for our fearless audience that rose up to support them. We are already hard at work on our next season, and look forward to bring more queer voices to the stage in the near future.”
About Portland Queer Arts
Portland Queer Arts was created to foster representation, visibility, and equity for queer artists and queer art organizations in Portland and the greater Pacific Northwest. By funding artists directly through fundraisers, grants, and scholarship programs for young queer artists, as well as providing a creative container for artists to showcase their work, we hope to create a platform through which queer artists of all socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds can achieve their creative vision unconstrained. It is our belief that honest and thoughtful stories told by queer people, for queer people can become a catalyst for deep and meaningful change.