Drag entertainer responds to controversy in Orange County
ORANGE COUNTY, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- Donations are pouring in to the Arts Center in Orange County after news coverage of a controversy between the Orange County Board of Supervisors and the center last week.
As of Monday morning, the Arts Center has received a little more than $1,000 and is still getting more. This comes after the county voted to return $4,500 in state funding that would have been given to the arts center due to a planned program there that would have been taught by a drag entertainer.
The drag entertainer, who was set to lead the program, wants to see how they feel about the decision.
"People have been trying to silence the queer community for a long time," said Wysteria Ivy.
Ivy is a drag entertainer who lives in Orange County. She's also the person who was set to lead what's called a "Build a Babe" workshop at the arts center.
"It was about all of us coming together and taking outfits that we got from the thrift store and turning them into stuff that could be used for me for me for drag,” Ivy said.
Ivy was set to teach costume, hair and makeup to community members. But the event is postponed indefinitely.
"I feel like it’s an attack on queer people in general," she said.
It all started at a recent board of supervisors meeting when board members voted to return $4,500 in state funding given to the arts center.
Anna Pillows, the director of the Arts Center, says the funding for that specific workshop would have come from registration fees, not the grant money or tax dollars.
"We are here to increase the quality of life in our community, as we have done for 25 years. And part of that means making art and working with artists that really do represent the full diversity of our community," Pillow said.
"If anything, else this opens a discussion about queer people in small towns because we are here," Ivy said.
The Arts Center celebrated its 25th-anniversary last year. The Build a Babe workshop was set to take place Feb. 22.