Latest / philly has heART / Philly Queer Life Drawing feat. Brielle DuBose

Transcript

Philly Queer Life Drawing feat. Brielle DuBose · philly has heART

0:14
Hey, Lucinda. Bonjour, Robert. Hello, and welcome,
0:18
everyone. Did we have a great time last week
0:22
in the city? I mean, the city's poppin'. The
0:25
city is poppin'. It's World Cup, baby. It's 250,
0:29
baby. It is so fun to be in a Philadelphia. It
0:33
is pride. Yes. You know it, you know it. And
0:36
speaking of, we ended up going to the Independence
0:39
Business Association luncheon last Tuesday. We
0:44
had a great opportunity to learn about some amazing
0:47
businesses, LGBTQIA businesses in the city and
0:52
what they're doing to... make the city just a
0:56
better place. I mean, it was really inspirational
1:00
to gather with the members and to learn more
1:04
about what the IBA does throughout the city throughout
1:07
the year. Agreed. Yeah. Let's just get this out
1:11
of the way. LGBTQ plus. carries the city on its
1:15
back oh 100 100 i can't wait to interact with
1:20
these members more and more throughout the year
1:22
and hopefully we can have some great conversations
1:25
with some of them in the future agreed anything
1:28
else into the arts this weekend oh my god no
1:30
not really i did edit quite a few episodes nice
1:35
this has nothing to do with the arts okay i went
1:39
to happy hour last week oh it was a lot to do
1:42
about culture though Oh, you know it. I was with
1:45
a couple friends from work. One of them was single.
1:49
And I was like, we are going to get you some
1:51
numbers today. Yes. And in come this group of
1:57
four gents. They were very Philadelphia presenting.
2:01
I'll tell you that. Okay. And then they had been
2:04
sitting down for a while and they had ordered
2:06
their drinks. I turned around and I was like,
2:09
what are you drinking? And Robert. Out come the
2:13
Scottish accents. Oh, my gosh. No way. Oh, my
2:17
God. Way. I was like, where are you chaps from?
2:20
Where are you chaps from? Jesus. And then in
2:25
come some guys from Florida. That was less exciting.
2:29
I love the city right now. It's absolutely amazing.
2:32
It's on one. Oh, totally. Totally. I need a heat
2:35
map of where the French are. Yeah. Yeah. Get
2:39
your berets out, you know. Start waving a croissant
2:42
into the air. Croissant! That was Petit Garçon
2:48
really excited about the influx of French into
2:51
his native Philadelphia. Absolutely amazing.
2:54
I love it. On to the conversation. Love it. Let's
2:57
go. Greetings. This is Robert Marsh, and you're
3:13
listening to Philly Has Heart Podcast. In this
3:15
podcast, we sit down with the artists, gallerists,
3:18
educators, curators, and other creatives who
3:21
comprise the Philadelphia art world to discuss
3:23
upcoming performances, exhibits, and other events
3:26
and initiatives that are not to be missed. The
3:29
art scene of Philadelphia is so rich that it
3:31
can seem daunting. Consider this your weekend
3:33
cultural recommendation. With me always is my
3:37
producer, Lucinda Dyerlin. Hello, darlings. And
3:40
today we have... Brielle DuBose. Hi. We're so
3:44
happy to have you. Yeah, I'm thrilled to be here.
3:46
Thank you for joining us. You're welcome. Exciting
3:48
times. Brielle, can you give us the elevator
3:52
pitch for Philly Queer Life Drawing? The who,
3:56
the what, the when, and the how often and where.
4:00
Okay. Philly Queer Life Drawing is for everybody.
4:02
It is queer by name, but it's not a queer -only
4:06
space. It's just a queer -centered space. So
4:09
Devon and I... We created this about three years
4:12
ago. We both went to art school and we both kind
4:15
of had the same experience of loving life drawing
4:18
and getting very bored by having the same type
4:22
of models every single time. Very like ballet
4:26
body, like thin and normally white. So like I
4:29
think both of us being black trans folks were
4:33
ready for something different. So that's how
4:36
kind of queer life drawing was born. We wanted
4:38
to. see queer people being held up, marginalized
4:43
bodies being held up, so fat, black, trans bodies,
4:46
and also invite queer artists in. So we started
4:51
actually in my friend's studio. In the Bach building,
4:55
Simone Salib. And from there, we went to Tattooed
4:58
Moms, where we still host. And we've been in
5:00
Fleischer and their sanctuary. And we still host
5:04
at Moore College of Art and Design. We try to
5:06
do monthly, but it's every other month or so.
5:09
Lovely. Yeah. You had something that you loved,
5:16
and then you were able to recreate that again,
5:19
right? And to then be able to share that with
5:22
so many others as well. It's beautiful. It was
5:25
scary. I mean, you know, trying to do something
5:27
new and involve people and like people I don't
5:29
know. But the first one went so well that I was
5:33
kind of blown away. I think one of my favorite
5:36
compliments that I've ever gotten was somebody
5:38
said that this was the first time I've turned
5:40
my brain off in like three months. And I was
5:43
just like, that's high praise. Yes. That is high
5:46
praise. We're all so stressy. But I think that's,
5:49
like, the beautiful thing about it is that you
5:50
have to be so engaged because it's timed. Yeah.
5:53
So, like, we'll start with minute drawings where
5:56
you just do gestures and, like, kind of loosen
5:58
up and get into it. Oh. And then we'll move into
6:01
five -minute poses. We'll do three tens, take
6:04
a long break. If we're tattooed moms, I let people
6:06
just go get food and get a drink or a beer or
6:09
whatever they would like. And then we come back
6:12
and do longer poses. And it's just really fun.
6:16
It's a beautiful space that you've created. Yeah.
6:19
And that's the other thing, a safe space goes
6:21
a long way. Yes. Like a community at this point.
6:24
Yes. Yeah. Philly Queer Life has had its second
6:28
birthday this past April. Can you tell us more
6:30
of the origin story behind Philly Queer Life
6:33
Drawing? Yeah, absolutely. So, fun fact, it was
6:36
actually our third. We keep meaning to put something
6:39
on Instagram, but we keep not doing it. And by
6:42
we, I mean me, because I'm the one that draws
6:44
nonsense. Don't want to mind catching strays
6:48
here. But in 2023, I think in February, we, again,
6:52
just had a very small, maybe like 11 -person
6:56
little session where I didn't get a model. We
7:01
all took turns modeling, and it was just such
7:05
a sweet. Little space. We had little snacks and
7:08
little wine. It was cute. And then from there,
7:12
I got in touch with Rob from Tattooed Moms and
7:16
asked if I could use their space, and they agreed.
7:20
And it's in the back room upstairs. The other
7:23
thing that I love to do is create a little set.
7:24
So usually I will make something for the models
7:28
to sit in or on so that it's not just... A model
7:32
that there's something interesting behind them.
7:34
Not to say that the back room of Tattoo Moms
7:36
is not interesting. There is stickers everywhere.
7:39
That's amazing. There's art everywhere. But I
7:41
usually try to make it their own little world.
7:43
One of our second sessions there, we did like
7:45
a Barbie theme because Barbie had just come out.
7:47
So it was all pink. Yes. All pink fur sequins,
7:51
like very fun and cute. Oh, that's pretty. That's
7:54
brilliant. Can you let us know about your Heavenly
7:58
Bodies program at the Fleischer. Sure. I think
8:03
it was maybe like a year into doing it and maybe
8:06
this was in the summer of 2024 and I really wanted
8:10
to do an event for Pride. Once I stepped foot
8:13
in Fleischer Sanctuary, I looked around and I
8:15
was like I have so many ideas. Yes! If you've
8:20
been in there, they have arches along the sides
8:21
and when I saw that I said I would like to put
8:25
a vignette in each one of these and then have
8:28
a model in them. Wow! And as somebody who grew
8:31
up in the church, there is nothing I love to
8:33
do more than queering religion. Yes. So Heavenly
8:37
Bodies kind of was just like a play on being
8:41
in a church and then like really admiring and
8:46
uplifting these queer bodies. Yes. And we had
8:49
one where I like fabricated these wings with
8:52
some of my friends. I painstakingly feathered
8:55
these one by one for one of our models. We had
8:59
one that was, like, a cloud setting and one that
9:02
was all, like, Garden of Eden, like, all greenery.
9:04
So, like, taking these themes and then kind of
9:08
queering them, it just really made my heart happy.
9:11
That's actually where I met Jake. Oh, nice. Oh,
9:14
excellent. And Jake, you mean Jake Foster, correct?
9:19
Yes, the very one. Go back a few weeks into our
9:22
William Way episode featuring Jake Foster. Speaking
9:27
of William Way, Refigured Unframed is a program
9:31
Philly Queer Life Drawing had in cooperation
9:34
with William Way, the community center. Can you
9:38
tell us more about that collaboration? That was
9:41
wonderful. Jake reached out and they had just
9:43
become the curator at the gallery there. And
9:49
they had come to Heavenly Bodies, and, like,
9:50
I had seen them around. They had come to a couple,
9:52
like, Queer Life Drawings, but we had not really
9:54
had a chance to collaborate much. And it was
9:59
a really beautiful show. That was, like, our
10:01
2025, like, big event. So that was during Pride,
10:04
and we ended up having a show, like a call -out
10:08
for artists for anybody who had made work at
10:10
Queer Life Drawing in the last two years. So
10:14
we were able to collect. drawings and paintings
10:18
and everything and show them and actually have
10:21
them for sale um excuse me from all of the sessions
10:25
that we've done so it was so sweet to have people
10:28
come back and to people see their art up on the
10:31
wall to like in a gallery like even though they're
10:35
just sketches some of them are so That's the
10:38
other thing. People are so talented. People are
10:42
seriously so talented. Most of the time I will
10:44
walk around and just be like, wow, that is amazing.
10:47
Beautiful. And you cultivated this space to do
10:52
this. Yes. I mean, they're bringing their talent,
10:55
but you gave them the place to do it. Yes. I
10:58
think Devon and I really, again, I think that
11:01
I could talk about community for... Ever. But
11:05
queer community absolutely changed my life. And
11:08
what I'm giving back feels like small potatoes.
11:11
But it is one of my favorite things that I do.
11:16
I said it before, but a safe space goes a long
11:20
way. Just to be in community, be in a room full
11:23
of queer people, and just turn your brain off.
11:26
We listen to great music. Sometimes we all giggle.
11:28
I think one of my favorite things that happened
11:30
is that one time the model sneezed and everybody
11:33
said, bless you. And then we all cracked up about
11:38
it. Like, it's just cute. It's good. And I usually
11:42
make a playlist for the event, so. What was on
11:45
the most recent playlist? Most recent? Honestly,
11:48
it's Stefan's playlist because. They're at the
11:50
session right now doing it. I literally had to
11:52
leave a session to come here. Yes. We appreciate
11:55
it. No, it's not your fault. It's because I rescheduled.
11:57
That was, like, kind of, like, power batty music.
12:02
And then I think, like, for the Barbie, it was,
12:05
like, hyper pop and, like, that kind of stuff.
12:07
Last time we had three sessions. During 2025
12:12
Pride, we pared that down to one because I'm
12:15
in grad school. And the last June nearly took
12:20
me out. So we did one that it was just like the
12:24
gay anthems and all the other stuff. Well, on
12:27
a personal note, do you want to share what you're
12:29
studying in grad school? Oh, yeah, sure. I am
12:32
a MSW student right now at Temple University,
12:35
about halfway through the program. I have a Bachelor
12:38
of Fine Arts in Painting from Tyler. And then
12:40
I worked in a restaurant for three years. And
12:42
then I worked in corporate for ten years. And
12:44
then I hated it. When people were just like,
12:49
should I get a corporate job? I'm like, don't
12:50
do that. Don't do that. It is a never -ending
12:54
circle jerk of nonsense. And working in social
12:57
work has been wonderful. I'm doing my practicum
13:01
at Philadelphia Fight right now. And the people
13:03
in that office are so sweet. And it's very nice
13:08
to have it flip where the work we're doing is
13:12
so serious, but the people in the office are
13:14
extremely unserious. Everybody has a good sense
13:17
of humor, and we're just out here trying to do
13:21
the best we can because we know all of the decorum
13:24
and nonsense that goes into corporate, it just
13:25
doesn't make, there's no space for it. We don't
13:28
have time for that. And corporations, I feel
13:32
like, any office setting, it just feels like
13:34
there's a lot of time. To complain about little
13:36
tiny things that don't matter. Yeah. And make
13:39
big deals about whatever. I worked in 401ks for
13:41
10 years. Oh, man. And people are just like talking
13:44
as if we're curing cancer. And I'm just like,
13:46
okay, but I understand that it's market close,
13:51
but I don't care. I don't care. So this pivot
13:57
has been absolutely wonderful. it feels really
14:01
good. Also school, much easier when I'm doing
14:03
things that I care about. Oh my gosh. Can you
14:05
talk about how you continue to create that safe
14:08
space? For sure. I'm trying to think about back
14:11
when I came out pretty late in life when I was
14:14
30 and I'm going to be 38 soon, but I think I
14:18
came out right before the pandemic. What happened
14:21
was I spent two years in my home just being like,
14:25
I'm obviously making this up. I'm obviously doing
14:29
this for attention alone in my house. So finally
14:35
getting into, and I think actually fat spaces
14:39
were first. I was in a chat room with only fat
14:42
people and it was kind of the first time that
14:44
I had experienced that. And I was just like,
14:47
this is crazy. This feels so affirming and so
14:50
good. It is so nice to hear people and be able
14:55
to encourage them that it just made me want to
14:56
keep doing. Yeah. So once I got kind of comfortable
15:01
in queer spaces, I just wanted to make them.
15:03
And that's it. Literally, the amount of brain
15:07
space that it takes to conform and be in a spot
15:10
that you don't really feel like you belong in,
15:12
it's a lot. I did that for a lot of years. So
15:15
I think having a space for specifically like
15:22
this demographic of folks feel safe. Being in
15:26
straight spaces seems silly at a certain point
15:28
where you're just like, I don't really understand
15:32
this, but okay. This seems like a very boring
15:35
play that we're all part of. I think it's like
15:40
part of my like personal mission to give people
15:42
a place to one, meet other queer folks and to
15:46
be able to like, I don't know, make connections.
15:50
talk, chit -chat, not think about the horrors
15:53
that exist outside. Oh, the horrors. Yes. Oh,
15:57
my God, they're mounting. They're everywhere.
16:00
And I'm not saying that there isn't a time and
16:02
place for sure, but I think if we don't make
16:05
space for joy, we're all going to kind of forget
16:07
what we're fighting for. So it is so, so important
16:12
to make space for joy. And also, like, do the
16:16
work. Like, Philly Queer Life Drawing now, we've
16:19
had a couple grants, which is great. And we've
16:22
been able to kind of take our ticket sales and
16:24
match them and then give them to mutual aid around
16:27
Philly. So that has been amazing. Excellent.
16:29
Yeah. Would you like to shout out any of your
16:31
mutual aid organizations? Oh my goodness, yes.
16:34
So one is the Coalition for Black Liberation,
16:36
which is the Coalition for Black Trans Economic
16:39
Liberation. That is in Philadelphia. And honestly,
16:42
sometimes I just find something like today I'm
16:45
working in kind of like a mutual aid group as
16:47
well. It's just a group of artists. And I think
16:50
we all kind of are getting a little antsy going
16:52
like, what could we be doing that is better?
16:56
So we've hosted a couple of movie nights and
16:59
use the tickets to proceeds to go to folks kind
17:02
of impacted by ice and kind of the same thing.
17:04
I think today's. proceeds from queer life drawing
17:08
we're going to be going to a group that works
17:10
at Delaney Hall on the ground and does a lot
17:12
of like aid in that space so that has been wonderful
17:16
but it's really wherever I see is needed and
17:20
then like Vamos Juntos works a lot with the immigrant
17:25
community in Philly and South Philly and they
17:29
have families that need help so I think one of
17:32
the last times I just split up the proceeds and
17:36
gave one to each of those families directly because
17:39
as a community like Philadelphia just got literally
17:43
just got a sanctuary city status and it took
17:49
a really long time and I think we all have to
17:52
remember that if the The powers that be are not
17:55
going to protect us, and we kind of have to take
17:56
care of ourselves. That's Vamos Santos' whole
18:00
thing, is that we take care of us. That's another
18:02
big part of it. What would you say to someone
18:04
listening who identifies as LGBTQ +, knows their
18:08
way around a medium, but might feel intimidated
18:11
to even click RSVP on the Eventbrite? It is not
18:17
that deep. It is simply not that deep. First
18:21
of all, anybody's invited. Anybody's invited.
18:24
And then also, we're open to all skill levels.
18:26
I say that every time. It is literally just an
18:29
exercise of kind of drawing what you see in front
18:32
of you. It doesn't need to be good. You just
18:35
need to have fun. That's it. You're coming to
18:37
turn your brain off. This is not a competition.
18:39
I love posting people's work, but if you don't
18:42
feel comfortable with me doing that, I certainly
18:44
won't. But it's really just a space to come and
18:47
vibe. We listen to good music for three hours.
18:49
We giggle. We chit chat. And make some really
18:53
good drawings in the meantime. Where can our
18:56
audience find Philly Queer Life? On Instagram.
19:01
It is literally at Philly Queer Life Drawing.
19:04
We're almost at, I think, 2 ,000 followers. Nice.
19:08
Big deal here. I like it. We're famous. But yeah,
19:15
that is where all of our announcements go. And
19:18
it's linked to Facebook as well. But it's mostly
19:23
Instagram. So it's at Philly Queer Life Drawing.
19:27
And also Devon, who is administering the session
19:30
right now, facilitating the session, is the spotlight
19:34
artist right now at the PMA. Yeah, for their
19:36
Pride thing. And it's up until the end of the
19:38
month. They also designed a really beautiful
19:40
fan that goes with it. That's like the item that
19:43
they're giving out for the tickets. Yes, correct.
19:46
That is accurate. And they have their work up,
19:50
and it's going to be kind of like scrolling through
19:52
in like the huge lobby on the second floor. Nice,
19:56
excellent. It's beautiful. It's seriously beautiful.
19:59
Also, you'll probably see Devon's work around
20:01
the city. They're a muralist as well. They do
20:03
everything. Murals. Watercolor, jewelry. They
20:08
shake ass. Yes, they do. I like it. I like it.
20:14
We'll be right back with some rapid fire questions.
20:24
And we're back with rapid fire questions. Could
20:28
you describe the Philly art scene in one word?
20:32
Probably not. But I can try. I want to say homey.
20:37
I know that that sounds weird, but I feel like
20:39
everybody kind of gets along and helps and collaborates.
20:42
Or collaborative. There we go. Cheese steaks
20:45
with whiz or without? With American. I like it.
20:49
Okay. Salt, pepper, ketchup, mayo, onions, and
20:53
American cheese. Devon has the same order. You
20:56
are the second person this week. To say mayo
21:01
on a cheesesteak. Yeah. It's necessary. I never
21:03
knew that. Yeah. Do mayo and ketchup. All right.
21:07
Salt and pepper. Okay. Yeah. If you could select
21:13
any piece of art to have in your home, forget
21:16
the guilt of it becoming inaccessible to others,
21:20
what would it be? Jenny Seville does these massive
21:24
paintings. And she's really inspired me to doing
21:29
work. So I would probably take one of her figure
21:30
drawings from like early aughts, 2010s. Yeah.
21:34
They're amazing. I'd have to have a loft space
21:36
for that. It comes with it. Your favorite Philadelphia
21:43
neighborhood. South Philly. I've lived in South
21:46
Philly for a million years. There's nothing like
21:48
it. It smells like laundry. Everybody's laundry
21:50
hookups come out the front door. So you walk
21:52
around and you go, oh, delightful. Thank you
21:56
so much for having a conversation with us today.
21:58
And everyone, please check out Philly Queer Life
22:00
Drawing. Fine. I would love to go to a life drawing.
22:19
Can you draw, Robert? No, it'll be a bunch of
22:23
circles, but that's fine. Circles and shafts.
22:27
Circles and shafts? Yeah. Yeah. Shafts. Yeah.
22:33
Well, why don't you tell us what's going on?
22:35
You kick it off. No problem. All right. This
22:38
is your last chance to see Lost and Found at
22:40
Two Street Club in Old City. There is also a
22:44
book available. Link to the book in the show
22:46
notes. All right, all right, all right. Liberty
22:49
City Arts presents Opera is a Drag tomorrow,
22:53
June 25th at 6 p .m. at Frankie Bradley's. The
22:57
unveiling of the LGBTQ plus mural on the side
23:01
of Voyeur in pride, in power, in memory by Santiago
23:05
Galeas is happening this Friday starting at 11
23:09
a .m. We've talked a lot about it. And I am so
23:13
there. Robert, A2? Shakespeare, a pride cabaret
23:20
presented by Prismatic Arts Ensemble, is on Friday,
23:25
June 26, 8 p .m. at Black Squirrel Club in Fishtown.
23:29
Also on Friday, June 26, Philadelphia Gay Men's
23:34
Chorus presents Disco Inferno at the Trestle
23:37
Inn. Oh my gosh, how are they all going to fit
23:40
in there? Speaking of the Philadelphia Gay Men's
23:43
Chorus, their collaboration with Philadelphia
23:45
Orchestra, the Pride concert, is on June 30th.
23:49
Babe, that is sold out and we are closing out
23:51
Pride month already? Pride 365? Indeed. Wrap
23:57
me up in a rainbow beach towel and let's continue
24:00
this into the summer. And with that, Philly has
24:03
heart. And art! projects and passion that inspire
24:42
us don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen
24:45
to podcasts and follow us on instagram to keep
24:49
up with philly's art