Join us in person or over Zoom Webinar as acclaimed drag queen, author, and artist Sasha Velour gives the May Lowell Lecture, The Revolutionary Art of Drag. Sasha Velour will be in conversation with local performing artist and theater company director Giselle Byrd. After the main program, there will be a book signing with local independent bookstore partner, Trident Booksellers & Café.

Sasha Velour (she/they) is a Winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Co-Host of HBO's We're Here. Velour is one of the foremost experts on drag, known for her impeccable style, thought-provoking multimedia performances, and radical genderfluid approach.

Velour's NYC drag revue NightGowns has been running for over eight years and just completed a sold-out six-month residency at Le Poisson Rouge (raising over $30,000 for direct mutual aid). Her first one queen theater show, Smoke & Mirrors (2019-2022) combined drag with her signature high-concept video art and reached over 100,000 people across four continents. In 2023, she published her best-selling first book The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag (Harper) which explores the history and philosophy of drag through personal stories. As a visual artist and cartoonist, she has drawn a Google Doodle (Marlene Dietrich, 2018) and a cover for the New Yorker (June 2023).

Giselle Byrd is the executive director of The Theater Offensive, which presents liberating art by, for, and about queer and trans people of color. Byrd is the first Black trans woman to lead a regional theater company in the United States. Before coming to TTO, Byrd worked at the Katz Company in New York, where she managed the careers of actors, musicians, activists, and content creators. Additionally, she created brand strategies and developed partnerships with companies such as OPI, Gucci, Google, The WNBA, GLAAD, Netflix, and BET.

This program will happen in-person and over Zoom Webinar. We plan to open doors fifteen (15) minutes in advance for our in-person audience.

This program is produced in partnership with the GBH Forum Network.

This program is part of the Lowell Lecture Series generously sponsored by theLowell Institute.