College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
Term of Award
Spring 2026
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Art
Committee Chair
Jason Hoelscher
Committee Member 1
Melissa Huang
Committee Member 2
Norton Pease
Committee Member 3
Elsie Hill-Howington
Abstract
This thesis explores the importance and roll of community in queer artwork, such as drag and burlesque and retroactively also all the work that I create. This paper aims to express this importance by exploring my personal relationship with building community. By interviewing performers selected through a customized-for-savannah voting process, I allowed the community to directly influence my thesis, as well as directly referencing photos of the hands of community members as a continued motif used throughout my work to represent community. This culminated in a two night thesis performance and installation exhibition that explored performance and how its environment and crowd does, or does not, shape the work itself, as well as giving the community free, fun spaces to gather.
Recommended Citation
Castro, Tatiana M., "A Community Affair: An Exploration of the Queer Community, Nightlife, Performance Art and Their Adjacent Qualities" (2026). College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations. 3162.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/3162
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
Included in
Art Practice Commons, Fashion Design Commons, Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons, Interactive Arts Commons, Painting Commons
