Early in 2020, Dienae Hunter, then a graduate student in the Herberger Institute’s Creative Enterprise and Cultural Leadership program, received a Creative Constellations grant from the Herberger Institute for their final project: a Tempe-based performing arts showcase scheduled to take place in June 2020.
Hunter developed their project as a response to the lack of queer-specific events in Tempe and an effort to build an engaged and connected queer community. In Hunter’s words, “The NQRMAL show was designed to be an opportunity for queer residents of Tempe and its surrounding cities to connect with their community through art while celebrating the work of local queer creatives of various disciplinary backgrounds.”
The Creative Constellation Grants are opportunities for current Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts students to implement original ideas that use their creativity for powerful innovation and community impact. Award recipients have access to mentorship, networking, financial planning assistance, and material resources needed to support their project. Funding is provided by members of the Dean’s Creativity Council.
Laura Roskind, the member of the Dean’s Creativity Council who reviewed Hunter’s application for the Creative Constellation grant, said the first thing that struck her about Hunter’s proposal was its integrity, and “the fact that they came out openly—the word queer was mentioned in the second sentence.”
“ ‘Coming out and accepting who I am completely’—that to me is the essence of the personal and the universal,” Roskind said. “If you don’t know who you are, basically, you probably can’t make good art.”
Roskind also appreciated that Hunter “brought the community in and made it very personal. It wasn’t just queer ASU students—it was from the community at large, which was a telling point of their proposal.”
Early in 2020, Dienae Hunter, then a graduate student in the Herberger Institute’s Creative Enterprise and Cultural Leadership program, received a Creative Constellations grant from the Herberger Institute for their final project: a Tempe-based performing arts showcase scheduled to take place in June 2020.
Hunter developed their project as a response to the lack of queer-specific events in Tempe and an effort to build an engaged and connected queer community. In Hunter’s words, “The NQRMAL show was designed to be an opportunity for queer residents of Tempe and its surrounding cities to connect with their community through art while celebrating the work of local queer creatives of various disciplinary backgrounds.”
The Creative Constellation Grants are opportunities for current Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts students to implement original ideas that use their creativity for powerful innovation and community impact. Award recipients have access to mentorship, networking, financial planning assistance, and material resources needed to support their project. Funding is provided by members of the Dean’s Creativity Council.
Laura Roskind, the member of the Dean’s Creativity Council who reviewed Hunter’s application for the Creative Constellation grant, said the first thing that struck her about Hunter’s proposal was its integrity, and “the fact that they came out openly—the word queer was mentioned in the second sentence.”
“ ‘Coming out and accepting who I am completely’—that to me is the essence of the personal and the universal,” Roskind said. “If you don’t know who you are, basically, you probably can’t make good art.”
Roskind also appreciated that Hunter “brought the community in and made it very personal. It wasn’t just queer ASU students—it was from the community at large, which was a telling point of their proposal.”
By the time June rolled around, most events had moved online, and the NQRMAL show was no exception. Hunter reconceived the presentation as a virtual opportunity to celebrate the work of local LGBTQ+ creatives of various disciplinary backgrounds.