No Body Holy

2016, Curating, production, art directing & performance, Robertson Gym, Santa Barbara, CA

Punning on the name of the legendary Texas musician Buddy Holly, “No Body Holy” was a Valentine’s Night queer sock hop event that  featured ‘50’s-style Rock ‘n’ Roll by garage-punk trio Shannon & the Clams (Oakland, CA); El Vez, The Mexican Elvis (San Diego); and nostalgic folk ‘n’ roll by my group- Oree & the Doo Not Worries.

Starting out as a visionary drawing back in 2009, this past year (as part of my Fulbright post-academic training period) I developed the project with the assistance of 2 members of the Queer Art Collective in UC Santa Barbara, who helped make this dream come true. The production took approx. 6 months. As the main curator, it was important for me to make this a cross-over event and reach out not only to local-on campus, queer community -- but to a much broader audience of all ages (and bodies!). The purpose was to bring people together and celebrate our ever-changing bodies.