Classes
The Art of Avant Drag
Ages 18 and up
April 3–24, 2025
6–8pm, Thursdays
Image: Elyse Mertz
Instructor
Reed Rushes
Pricing
$250 (tuition assistance available)
Dates
3 April - 24 April
The Art of Avant Drag examines the expansiveness of Drag, going beyond the binary Drag of Kings and Queens to focus on everything in between—Drag Slugs, Drag Skunks, Drag Cars, and Drag Punks. Through readings by Jack Halberstram and José Esteban Muñoz, and performance techniques such as clowning, (non-)acting, "low art," Trash, free-writing, pop, lip-syncing, Camp, and embodied movement, learners will gain a historical understanding of Drag and develop their own Drag personas. The course will culminate in a presentation of participants’ Drag creations.
This course will be held in person at the Abrons Arts Center. All courses will gather on Wednesday April 30 for a culminating share out.
For a longer course description, please visit The School of Making Thinking’s page.
About Reed Rushes
Reed Rushes is a British-American performance artist based in Queens, New York. Their multimedia practice centers on queer fantasy. Using Drag, movement, video, and both found and self-made objects, they deconstruct the boundaries between human bodies, emotional affect, and objects. As Exeunt Magazine notes, “defying the boundaries of skin, enacting solidarity instead,” they explore queer modes of connection and world-building. In 2018, Rushes won Europe’s largest Drag King competition “brilliantly subverting extreme masculinity” (The Guardian). Their work has been shown at The Park Avenue Armory, Performance Space New York, BOFFO and Art Omi. They are a 2025 Queer Art Fellow.
Partnership
The Art of Avant Drag is curated in partnership with The School of Making Thinking.
This program is supported through a Cultural Development Fund grant awarded to The School of Making Thinking from the New York Department of Cultural Affairs.
Tuition Assistance
Abrons offers tuition assistance to any student whose household makes under $50,000 annually. Through our NYCHA Arts Initiative, classes are FREE for all NYCHA residents living in zip codes 10002, 10003, 10009, and 10038.
For courses offered in partnership with the School of Making Thinking, we also offer a sliding scale for people of color, trans people, and/or disabled people.