A packed house of drag performers, politicians and longtime patrons dazzled a crowd at an inaugural nonprofit gala for Oasis, securing crucial funding for its new arts initiative.
The South of Market LGBTQ+ club, led by owner D’Arcy Drollinger, launched its Oasis Arts nonprofit to support queer performers and productions, had raised less than half its goal before the Saturday night event began.
By evening’s end, donors including Mayor London Breed and Planned Parenthood board member Jessica Bryndza helped meet the ambitious target.
“We love the arts and, more importantly, we love D’Arcy and we love what Oasis represents. We want to see these artists thrive,” said Breed, who bid $2,000 on a magnum bottle of champagne during the auction.
Drollinger has outlined plans to use the funds across several initiatives, including a film production facility with a 45-foot cyclorama. Last year, the venue paid 100 drag performers $1,000 each to perform on 60 street corners throughout San Francisco.
State Sen. Scott Wiener praised Oasis as a “sacred space” while acknowledging challenges facing local artists.
“San Francisco doesn’t make it easy to be an artist,” Wiener said, “and so it is always so inspiring to me that artists are always like, ‘Hell no, we’re not going anywhere.'”
Wiener made the evening’s stakes clear, acknowledging larger political challenges surrounding the city and the region. “We have a fight on our hands as a community, as a country,” he said.
“When I think about art and performance and all of that beauty and the strength and inspiration that it brings and the artists bring, that’s gonna energize all of us for that fight.”
Even with greater visibility of drag culture, the club has had to contend with shifts within the entertainment industry that favor consumption over participation, performer Kochina Rude said.
“People show up at events around the city and they just take, they absorb and leave,” Rude said. “What’s left is that creatives don’t have the same support system as we used to.”
“It feels more than ever that we have to fight really hard to keep our space here. We don’t have the engagement with the culture we are celebrated for.”
For many performers, Oasis represents more than just a venue.
“I wouldn’t be who I am today without Oasis,” drag artist Ali Scat said. “It’s made me an artist. It’s literally kept people alive,” she said, referring to initiatives like Rude’s school training attendees in use of Narcan.
Scat fought back tears.
“It doesn’t make me want to cry — it makes me cry — um, and I can’t cry right now ’cause I’m about to go perform.”
| Source: Michaela Vatcheva for The Standard
