New drag artist-in-residence program hopes to empower Winnipeg performers
Ruby Chopstix crowned inaugural winner of Rainbow Resource Centre initiative
The Rainbow Resource Centre has its first-ever drag artist in residence, a program created to champion drag as an art form in the city.
Ruby Chopstix was crowned the winner of the inaugural residency Thursday night at a showcase that featured runners-up Dirt and Deb from Winnipeg.
A drag performer since 2018, Ruby said she hopes to inspire other artists from underrepresented communities.
"I just hope people see this and trust in themselves and believe themselves and love themselves," she said Thursday night.
As a second-generation Vietnamese Canadian, she said growing up, she didn't see herself represented in popular culture.
"When I was growing up, I thought I could only fit into one mould," she said.
"So the representation just matters so much because that it just shows that you could do anything and be anywhere."
First of its kind
The program — the first of its kind in Canada — was created to help uplift drag performers in the city and celebrate drag as an art form, said Evan Maydaniuk, director of development for the Rainbow Resource Centre, who led the program's creation.
This feels especially important during a time when drag artists have faced hateful rhetoric, protests and even been banned from performing in some parts of the United States, he said.
"We wanted to create this program to really show our artists that we care about them and that this is a valid art form that is deeply rooted in the queer and trans liberation movement," he said.
"It's a way of telling our stories in our own queer way. It's a way to be silly, to be emotionally impactful, to be stupid, to be sexy, to be all these things."
Dirt, who has been performing as a drag king for about five years, says he was drawn to drag after finding other types of performance could be limiting.
"It was something where I could explore a lot of things that in music school I didn't have access to," he said.
"Pieces of music that I don't have the range for or the right skill level for, I could access through lip-syncing or through kind of different interpretations."
It was that freedom of expression that drew Deb from Winnipeg to drag performing, too.
"It's this the infinite possibilities kind of medium," she said.
"There's only so much you can push with some mediums, but with drag, you can do anything you want. There are no rules."
After being crowned the winner of the inaugural residency, Ruby Chopstix will work with the Rainbow Resource Centre throughout her tenure to put on workshops and perform at various events.
She'll also get funding to create a capstone project, which could be anything from a performance to a fashion show, that will be unveiled at the end of the residency, Maydaniuk said.
The centre received 10 submissions after opening the application process in October 2023.
From there, a selection committee — which included seasoned drag performers Anita Stallion, Cake and Satina Loren — chose the three finalists, all of whom performed Thursday night at a showcase at the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art.
Selecting who would be crowned the first drag artist in residence was a difficult decision, but ultimately came down to the performer who had "a bit more of an established profile," Maydaniuk said.
"All three artists we have are incredible and would have done an amazing job in this role and are doing amazing work already without this residency in place," he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
