Slay the Runway

Bright lime green lighting is projected on the walls in a dark room. A model walks down the center of the screen with an audience surrounding them.

A fashion extravaganza featuring fashions by local LGBTQIA+ teens organized by Steven Frost

Slay the Runway offers fashion design, performance and sewing classes for LGBTQIA+ teens at Longmont's Firehouse Art Center and Boulder Public Library's Building 61 Maker Space. At the conclusion of an eight-week session, students participate in a professionally produced runway show premiering in the ATLAS Institute's B2 Center for Media, Arts and Performance. In addition to garment construction and design, participants will work with make-up artists and choreographers to refine their debuts. One night only, Slay the Runway will feature stunning fashion and original performances and collaborations with Twirling Tech Goddess LeeLee James. This project was made possible by a grant from the Arts in Society Fund.

This work was made possible through the B2 Creative Residency Program. Learn more here.

three photos of the main organizers of the event

About the Artists

The stars of this one-of-a-kind show will be the young designers and artists whose work will be revealed on Saturday, November 13, it wouldn't be possible without the vision, hard work and skill of the team behind the scenes:

Elaine Waterman (center) is the executive director of the Firehouse Art Center, as well as an arts educator and activist. Waterman is also the coordinator for BMoCA’s Studio Project Internship which is being offered in conjunction with the Firehouse Art Center. Her biggest passion is helping young artists develop their artistic voices. Her love of fashion started in her youth and led her to a career as a fashion designer in New York City. She now channels her creative energies into costumes and cosplay.

Steven Frost (left) is an instructor in the Department of Media Studies and an interdisciplinary artist. Frost's (they/them) research focuses on textiles, memes, queer history, pop culture, and community development in DIY spaces and libraries. In their creative work, they often use textiles—their association with the body and garments evoke tactile memories. Using weaving, they combine traditional materials like yarn and cotton with non-traditional materials from a range of sources, exploring the ways history and time are embedded in materials. Their artworks evoke specific narratives and stories, referencing aspects of their personal and family history, and the history of the LGBTQIA+ people, among other topics. In workshops and interactive performance events, they work to amplify marginalized voices and foster communities to produce their own forms of representation.

LeeLee James (right) is channeling her engineering education, dance training and resourcefulness through queer, femme and Black identities into a wild and wonderful expression of her STEAM art through a YouTube series, "Twirling Tech Goddess." As a computer science major, James's (she/her) vision is to work to provide greater access to technological information, skills and experiences for those who are historically marginalized in order to pave the way for a more equitable future for all. Subscribe to her channel today at meow.wf/ttg.