Drag Queen Musical STEAM Project

K-12 STEAM education

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit) City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit)

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

STEAM education ensures comprehensive, inclusive learning for students across broad ranges of access and interests. From our work with Drag Story Hour and drag teen workshops, as well as through partnerships with the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Sciences, the LA LGBT Center, the Aquarium of the Pacific, LA Public Library and the LA County Museum of Natural History, we understand that the interdisciplinary nature of drag has educational value not only to inspire creativity and empathy, but to communicate information and topics that might otherwise feel inaccessible. For example, a drag performer can both perform an original song about myriapods and break the fourth wall to ask an audience questions or clarify specific topics in a comedic style. We believe in the power of drag to build support and understanding for LGBTQ+ communities, offer strong queer role models for youth, and teach students STEAM topics with musical, engaging content.

In collaboration with the Natural History Museum of LA County, Drag Arts Lab developed a 30 minute “Drag Musical” in conversation with various exhibits in the Natural History Museum. The musical covers fossilization, arthropod classifications and basic ornithology and examines themes of Natural History and biology.. The material was developed from conversations with experts at the Natural History Museum and designed to include California education standards. We see this project as a pilot for our Drag Musical Education initiative, through which we will continue to develop “Drag Musicals” that explore Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. We will bring “Natural HERstory” to partner facilities throughout the county such as Aquarium of the Pacific, the LGBT Center in Hollywood, the Whittier LGBTQ+ Center, Department of Cultural Affairs facilities, and elementary schools. Our goals are to 1. Use drag and live music as an educational tool to communicate STEAM topics. 2. Give youth an opportunity to experience the art of drag and build empathy for queer communities and 3. Activate public spaces with free, accessible drag programming.

Our work is essential for LGBTQ+ advocacy and education in LA County. By giving youth and families the opportunity to engage in drag that is designed for them, we build empathy early on for different identities and gender expressions. Consistent data shows that LGBTQ+ youth experience bullying and harassment which impacts their academic performance. By modeling queer excellence for LGBTQ+ youth and their peers, we believe we can enrich the community’s overall academic and social experience. More broadly, reframing STEAM topics with a creative lens, we believe, will also open up access to the educational content for participants who might not see themselves reflected in traditional STEAM enrichment programs. By using fashion, for example, to express core elements of dinosaurs and fossilization, we can open scientific thought and experiment to more students across varying interests and learning styles.