Date(s): Saturday, October 10, 2026
Type of Show: Arts Festival
Showtime(s): 3:00PM
Tickets: $25
Extend your Pride Celebration! The First Annual Queer Arts Festival is happening on Saturday October 10th, 3-5 pm at the Arts Center Carrboro. All ages are welcome.
Come revel in a Queer event, held in a safe and welcoming place with a great dancefloor! We are an amazing community and we deserve celebrating! Come be a part of this inaugural event and let’s be dazzling together!
FEATURING: Chi Hughes-Spoken Word, Alyah Baker-Modern Dance, Lisa R & The Lucky Stars-Music, Aris Valentine-Drag, Danny O’Shaughnessy-DJ
Chi Hughes-Spoken Word
Chi Hughes life and work explores the intersection of art and activism. A pioneer in the LGBTQA+ Civil Rights movement, in 1975 she co-founded the Lambda Student Alliance at Howard University, which was the First Openly LGBTQ+ Student Organization at an HBCU, and only realized under threat of a lawsuit. She performed spoken-word poetry with the legendary Essex Hemphill as the only female member of CINQUE and took the stage at the National Theater, as well as underground arts spaces. She founded the Sapphire Sapphos, a social and political organization, that sponsored events featuring poet Audre Lorde and Sweet Honey in the Rock. She also sang with Sweet Honey in the Rock’s workshop group InProcess.
Alyah Baker-Modern Dance
Alyah Baker (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at UNC Charlotte and performer working at the intersections of art and embodied activism. She investigates Queer Black ballet as an expansive landscape with fluid boundaries that caress and include—rather than assess and exclude—Black bodies that refuse the container of homonormative classical dance expectations. Her choreography has been commissioned by American Dance Festival, Queering Dance Festival, and Oakland Ballet, among others. Baker’s research and choreography have been recognized in local and national media, including Dance Teacher Magazine and the New York Times.
Lisa R & The Lucky Stars
Lisa R & The Lucky Stars brings together the warm, expressive vocals and acoustic guitar of Lisa Rhodes with the rich cello of Elana Scheiner, creating a soothing but uplifting sound built on strong original songs and natural chemistry. The Lucky Stars premiered their newest work Suite Queer: A Celebration of Us, at The ArtsCenter in April 2025. A personal look into Queer Culture, it explores our lives and history through music and multi-media, dance and performance art. It is an invitation to people inside and outside the Queer Community to meet and understand that what separates us is much less than what unites us. For those in the LGBTQA+ community, the hope is that you will see yourself and your experiences and learn about the lives of those who came before you and how brave and fabulous they were. Shaped by the vibrant 1980s Austin music scene, Lisa has performed with such industry greats as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joan Jett, and The Neville Brothers. After years as a respected music scholar and author, she now returns to the stage with depth, perspective, and a body of work that reflects a lifetime in and around music.
Aris Valentine-Drag
A member of the House of Valentine, Aris is one of North Carolina’s premier Drag performers. She can be found at venues in Charlotte (Chasers), Raleigh (Flex) Pittsboro (The West End Emporium), Fayetteville (Siren’s Lounge), Clayton (Elixir VI), Durham (The Velvet Hippo) and Carrboro (Speakeasy). She is also an activist leader in the Drag community’s charitable and public service events. Aris is this year’s Crape Myrtle Queen of the Volunteer Court.
The ArtsCenter shows are (almost always) seated. We have a nice bar with wine, beer, cider, soft drinks, snacks and always free water. If you need special assistance, please do contact us at boxoffice@artscenterlive.org or 919.929.2787 and we’ll be sure to accommodate you as best as we can.