Sequoia Hein Byerly | 2026 I.S. Symposium
Name: Sequoia Hein Byerly
°Õ¾±³Ù±ô±ð:ÌýQueer Creativity: Crafting Identity, Building Community, and Imagining Brighter Futures
²Ñ²¹Âá´Ç°ù:ÌýWomen’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS)
²Ñ¾±²Ô´Ç°ù:ÌýEnglish
´¡»å±¹¾±²õ´Ç°ù:ÌýJordan Brio Walters
In a society and political moment that claims we as Queer people do not deserve to exist, our own happiness, connection, and creation are radical acts. This project explores the overlap between Queer identity and creativity through oral history interviews with Queer college students at the College of ºÚÁÏÉç. Broken into two distinct but inextricably connected components, this project examines the ways Queer individuals find community, express themselves, and cope using their creative forms, imagining and crafting a hopeful future.
The written element of this project utilizes an interdisciplinary Queer and feminist lens and ethic of care to expand definitions of ‘Queer’ and ‘creativity’ and situate my co-collaborators’ narratives within the current social and political moment as well as through art, art history, and psychology’s explorations of Queer creativity. Using theories of Queer utopia, Queer futurity, and Queer worldmaking, I explore the ways creativity allows Queer individuals to envision and create a better, more affirming future.
The creative digital element offers a visual exploration of the themes connecting co-collaborators’ narratives: identity, community, education, coping mechanisms + mental health, place in time, and expansion + growth. This takes the form of collage/scrapbooking/junk journaling, my own art form, through which the themes and co-collaborators’ own art pieces are presented. Together the pieces of this project investigate and visualize the expansive ways Queer college students enjoy being creative and come to rely on it to craft their identities, communities, and futurities.
Posted in Symposium 2026 on May 1, 2026.
