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In this episode, Ollie Musson from the Rising Sun Arts Centre & Double Okay talks to Annie Kershaw, co-founder of A Girl called Stephen Theatre Company, Emeline Nevers-White, Digital Illustrator and volunteer at the Rising Sun, and G K Field from Double Okay. Sharing their experiences as queer artists, they discuss how organisations and institutions can best support queer creatives in Reading.
Double Okay is a queer and trans arts collective based in Reading. They host many different types of events as a point of local resistance, centring queer people, including exhibitions, performance nights and workshops. They are partnered with the Rising Sun Arts Centre, where they started hosting their Queer Making Sessions every 3rd Saturday of the month.
Ollie Musson is a queer, non-binary and trans artist based in Reading, and a member of Double Okay. Their practice is multidisciplinary and takes many forms, predominantly as a performance artist and drag performer known as Sheer Obsession. They work part time at the Rising Sun Arts Centre.
Annie Kershaw (she/her) is a queer theatre director from Reading, who’s worked with Reading Rep, Rabble Theatre and Double Okay and in 2019, co-founded her own queer reading-based company called A Girl Called Stephen Theatre. In the new year, she will be directing an exciting LGBTQIA+ adaptation of Hedda Gabler at Reading Rep, and this autumn will be associate director on the west-end transfer of Best of Enemies.
Emeline Nevers-White aka vainwin is a digital artist who was born and raised in Reading. Emeline uses colourful and enchanting themes to explore their brown and queer roots. They are also a volunteer at The Rising Sun Arts Centre in the Visual Arts team.
G K Field AKA George has been a Reading based Artist for over 20 years and is a member of Double Okay. They are a queer and non-binary artist, with a practice rooted in painting and has expanded into performance through their drag persona Mister Frank.
The Rising Sun Arts Centre is an award winning, independent arts centre, which for 27 years has been staffed and run by volunteers. The Rising Sun started as a squat, created by a group of intrepid artists who saw a need for ground-level arts development, for and by, the people of Reading. The centre gained charity status in the mid-90s, and has been at the heart of Reading’s cultural life ever since.
Website: www.risingsunartscentre.org
Instagram: @risingsunartscentre @vainwin @anniekershaw @wearedoubleokay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRisingSunArtsCentre/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RisingSunArts
