Let’s Have a Kiki: Melissa Sotelo

• Talk
• #InHerClosettag
• Exhibit-Related tag

• Event Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2020
• Time: 12:30 pm–1:00 pm (CST)
• Location: Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

“Let’s Have a Kiki” is a series of half hour informal gallery talks during the run of the exhibit In Her Closet—How to Make a Drag Queen.

Join us for our next kiki with Spurlock staff member Melissa Sotelo, who worked closely with the artists in the exhibit to design and construct the mannequins and other exhibit materials that display the garments and accessories. Melissa serves on the Museum's exhibit committee and has been on staff for over 10 years.

We respectfully adopt kiki as a term meaning “social gathering” that emerged from Black queer ballroom cultures in New York City. Known for its fun, laid-back, gossip-filled atmosphere, a kiki is also a support network that provides food, shelter, HIV advocacy and awareness, and an avenue for self-affirming performance expression for queer and trans youth living in the streets.