Heather Renée Russ

Come, Dance With Us and Our Dead In The Rainbows (If It Makes You Feel Good) Booth 1029 at SPRING/BREAK Art Show was co-curated by Cait McCormack, Christopher M Tandy and myself (Heather Renée Russ) Featuring works by Rochelle Voyles, Caitlin Rose Sweet, Vincent Tiley and ourselves.

In this curation we converted the office copy room into a “multi-sensory temple of neon altars and queerness with cathedral sound art” —Jana Asatonov, Creatrix Magazine.

We also turned the office storage cupboards into altars to honor queer artists, writers and activists who came before us. We chose our ghosts together and Christopher M Tandy made the altar drawings.

Press

Lair Fera was a collaborative queer art space in Bushwick conceived by Heather Renée Russ. The cofounding members along with Heather Renée were Stewart Stout, Caitlin Rose Sweet and Keith Aguiar. The Lair held art shows, salons and performances in a live work storefront. Events were largely word of mouth. Participating artists included ektor garcia, Monica Canilao, Xara Thustra, Nath Ann Carrera, Donna Dolore, Hadassah Damien & Amanda Kirkhuff. The Lair was set to have a big celebration and art show for the 10 year anniversary of the groundbreaking trans-centered film Maggots and Men by Cary Cronenwett in March 2020, but the show had to be cancelled. Pandemic circumstances caused Lair Fera to shut down in May 2020.

Membrane: A thin pliable film separating the inner environment from the outside world. These four artists met in San Francisco during a particular moment within a particular bubble that was exploding with creative collaboration. After individually moving on to navigate new geographies, queering and stretching the edges, they now come together to engage with this membrane and share works.

Featuring works by Raul De Nieves, Ektor Garcia, Heather Renée Russ with live music by Nath Ann Carrera at Space Create Gallery in Newburgh, NY. Co-curated with Ektor Garcia.

Club Feral was founded by Heather Renee Russ and Abby Schkloven in 2006 in San Francisco. Each night had a theme and the proceeds went to fund a different community project. There was performance, bands, djs, slide shows, screenings, food and a whole lot of creative shenanigans. It was a community endeavor, folks came together to fund their favorite projects. Bands and DJs were paid, the rest of the proceeds from the “pay what you can” door and a percentage of the bar went to the cause. Many who had projects funded in turn helped out with other events. Club Feral was queer and trans centered and most organizers were femmes of all genders, working class and poor. Club Feral existed in the time before cell phone cameras and social media as we know it, and it was WILD.

These are some of the Club Feral Flyers, the black and white hand drawn flyers were made by Lee Reyes.

Club Feral was held at Thee Parkside, thanks to the generosity of Malia Spanyol.