a.muse.d
a celebration of the active, intrinsic, and monumental impact that sex workers and ballroom have on modern arts and culture
Since time immemorial, sex workers have been objectified as artistic muses rather than as artists ourselves. The co-opting of Ho Aesthetics is commonplace today—mainstream civilians build their brands and platforms off our trends and style, while people in the sex trade continue to experience violence and criminalization. The same is true for Ballroom: elements of Ballroom style, fashion, and music get co-opted and monetized for mainstream trends time and again. Black trans and queer people rarely reap the benefits, and continue to face racial and gendered violence.
This project reclaims the power of our peoples, crediting sex workers and Ballroom leaders as the cutting-edge artists and arbiters of culture we are. The exhibition features the dynamic works of 9 artists with lived experience in the sex trade, as well as the portraits and interviews of 8 Black leaders who cultivated the Ballroom community in St. Louis as we know it today.
Join us on Saturday, June 15 for the a.muse.d opening reception at GCADD!