Houston’s Queer Art Collective Uplifting Creators

On a mission to uplift queer artists of color, Coextensive is a queer experimental art collective based in Houston that hosts bi-monthly events such as markets, concerts, fashion shows, and artist showcases. Serving the underrepresented and underserved, Coextensive has grown considerably since its founding by Sophia Silueta (she/they). Silueta currently acts as the creative director of Coextensive and is a bioacoustics researcher at the University of St. Thomas, a cellist in multiple music groups, as well as a curator and local organizer. A jack of all trades, Silueta started Coextensive in 2023 because of a harrowing experience, a sensitivity to the needs of her community, and a deep love and respect for marginalized artists.

“Coextensive came about from a really strange and dark place,” she explains. “I was new to the experimental scene in Houston. One night I went to a show at a small venue where I didn’t really know anyone, and there were very few people there. Very early on into the show, I realized I had started to not feel so great, and it turned out that someone had drugged my drink. After the show, I came forward about that experience. I realized that the experimental scene was not a safe space for fem-presenting people, and especially for people of color and queer artists.”

Hearing similar stories from others, Silueta decided that Houston’s art scene needed a place for queer artists and artists of color to safely congregate to create and experience art.

“I knew there was a serious problem in Houston,” she says. “There were so many artists like myself that were marginalized and did not have the support, resources, spaces, or even people who would respond to their requests to share their art.”

Silueta’s experiences uncovered a larger problem in Houston’s experimental art scene. Wanting to see a change and support the community, she began organizing events with Echoes, a Montrose staple. Attending one of the movie-inspired music nights, she met the owner who gave her the opportunity to host a Twin Peaks-inspired party that was a huge success. Silueta created the visuals, decorated the entire event space, baked cherry pies, and made costumes for the event.

“Later on that night,” Silueta says, “the owner had told me that if I was interested in hosting anything else, he would allow me to use Echoes as a venue! That’s when I took the opportunity to be like, well, I would really like the ability to platform marginalized artists—specifically queer POC and gender-expansive individuals in multimedia experimental art.”

Since that first Coextensive event at Echoes in the spring of 2023, Silueta has dedicated their time to adhering to Coextensive’s mission: creating a safe space for queer people, gender-expansive people, and people of color, and giving marginalized artists opportunities to share their art.

Coextensive provides a multitude of opportunities for artists of many identities to collaborate with each other. By encouraging artists to curate their own events, hold their own concerts and fashion shows, sell their art, and create visual media, the collective helps them achieve their dreams. Silueta explains that Coextensive supports artists by providing resources and avenues for artists to learn and hone their skills. All event proceeds either go back to the artists or support future events. Some people who approach the collective want to pursue archival work while others are novice curators who need a space to host their first event. Coextensive has also given many novice graphic designers the ability to try their hand at designing flyers for their events.

“No one else is giving these artists a chance. We will give them a chance because, ultimately, I think the community that Coextensive works with is made up of an insane amount of incredibly talented artists across a wide array of media,” Silueta notes. “One thing that Coextensive does really well is connecting people across different art media and communities who would otherwise not merge. It’s incredible how we are able to merge visual artists, musicians, and fashion designers! We’ve also been able to bring people from the movie-making community together by having filmmakers show their music videos at an event called CoexClips, a collaboration with the Houston Cinema Arts club.”

Of course, Silueta does not work alone. Working around the clock to keep Coextensive running is Jonny Elaine, sculptor Julia Rossel, and business owner Chloe Yvette. This team is dedicated to serving and uplifting their communities. They are constantly venturing into new media, just like the individuals within the community who come to them for a platform.

Growing in popularity and notoriety in just its first year of existence, Coextensive has hosted many memorable events, including Prom Out Loud in June 2023 and, most recently, two events in July: a showcase event featuring trans artists, performance artists, and visual artists titled The Future Is Trans, and a 713 day market with the music blog OffRecord, where local bands performed.

Be on the lookout for the Coextensive collective’s future events on their Instagram, and support Houston’s diverse local art scene!

Keep up with Coextensive Collective on Instagram @coextensive.htx.