Queer to Stay
Queer to Stay is our year-long development programme for LGBTQ+ creatives. Thanks to Creative Scotland’s Create:Inclusion Fund, we were able to invite artists from a range of different disciplines to join our first ever Queer to Stay cohort!
The programme includes bursary support, masterclasses and talks with guest speakers, residencies with scratch sharings, and opportunities to network, discuss and reflect with peers.
Find out more about the current cohort of Queer to Stay artists below!
Megan Black
she/they
Tipped as one of the top 23 artists to watch in 2023, Scotland’s ‘Hippy-Dippy Drag Queen’, Megan Black, is an award-winning musician, vocalist, and songwriter. Named ‘one of the finest singer-songwriters working in Britain today’, Megan’s music holds nothing back – writing ‘sad, yet funky, feminist anthems’. Her music explores gender, sexuality, and mental health, creating a sonic bridge between a 70s inspired sound and contemporary views on feminism & LGBTQ+ communities. Megan’s music breaks down barriers to celebrate diversity and create more inclusive spaces.
Levi J. Richards
he/they
Levi is an illustrator based in Edinburgh. His work is inspired by his love of classical literature and the gender-bending aesthetics of his local drag scene, in which he also performs as his drag king alter-ego, Guy Liner.
With his partner august, he co-runs Door Ajar Comics, a small press which published their first graphic novel, “Crossing the Threshold: Stories of the Weird, the Queer, and the Uncanny” in 2022. He is Out of the Blueprint’s current artist in residence, and was shortlisted for the Creative Edinburgh Student award in 2022.
Leyla Hussain
she/her
Leyla is a young Dundonian, Scottish-Pakistani, and Saudi trans woman who specialises in illustration and literature.
Her past work ranges from video work, to printmaking and performance.
Though she often, but not solely, works with heavy themes like trauma, religion, and repression, she also aims to create pieces with an air of fantasy.
She is also a member of the Community Cast for Shaper/Caper’s upcoming production, Small Town Boys.
Ciaran Cannon
he/him
Ciaran’s work embraces the queer qualities of nature, in its infinity of forms and variations.
He investigates material possibilities through found, salvaged and repurposed objects, questioning single use, throwaway items and aiming to extend the boundaries of what can easily be overlooked.
As a queer trans man, he draw parallels between these overlooked and cast aside objects and the queer experience.
Emma Ruse
she/they
Emma Ruse is an early-career theatre producer and maker based in Musselburgh.
She is co-founder and Chief Executive at Framework Theatre, supporting emerging artists across Scotland.
As well as this, Emma has recently started her own production company, Emma Ruse Productions, with a focus on producing new work in Scotland in a fair, accessible way.
Lucy Roddamn
she/they
Lucy is a 2D/ 3D artist based in Dundee.
She graduated from DJCAD in 2022, studying Animation, and currently work sin the games industry making asset bundles and game templates.
Most of their days are spent drawing to their heart’s content, but when it’s not work-based, you can find her sketching out queer comic strips, cozy frog illustrations and copious amounts of fanart!
Simon Krawczyk
he/they
Simon is a freelance illustrator and an animation student living in Dundee. His queer identity influences the majority of his work.
As well as being part of Queer to Stay, he was previously a bursary recipient as part of Shaper/Caper's OutFest.
He enjoys performing, and being a part of the Community Cast for Shaper/Caper’s upcoming production, Small Town Boys, has allowed him to learn more about queer history, whilst also expressing his own identity through dance.
Queer to Stay is funded by Creative Scotland’s Create: Inclusion fund.
