“Legends of Drag” Exhibit Kicks Off Summer, LGBTQ+ Pride and First Friday

The Patricia Reser Center for the Arts’ kickoff to summer, LGBTQ+ Pride Month and First Friday (the Beaverton art world’s equivalent of First Thursday) opened with a reception for Legends of Drag, its two-story lobby exhibit honoring the late Walter Cole—best known as Darcelle XV, the world’s oldest drag queen and namesake of the historic queer bar Darcelle XV Showplace—and his most famous protégée and successor, Poison Waters. Dozens of patrons cycled through the exhibition within its first hour, with Waters present behind a merch table answering questions and slinging T-shirts with her face on them. The Reser’s Pride programming includes Wisdom of the Queen, a talk Waters will give on Wednesday, June 11, and the Friends of Dorothy Cabaret on June 18 (also featuring Waters).

Legends of Drag might technically put Darcelle and Waters in a corner, but the exhibit is rich with details and artifacts from Cole’s life and career while elevating Waters’ legacy with art in her likeness and storied memorabilia of her own, like a sign from Waters’ gig as grand marshal of the Starlight Parade.

Photos from Cole’s life contextualize him across the 20th century, like a photo print from his childhood that appears colored by hand, or the rusty warm hues of ’70s-era photos. Waters comes into frame with slightly clearer ’90s film shots into 21st century digital clarity. Both floors feature re-creations of Cole’s vanity counters—Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds was Darcelle’s age-appropriate scent of a woman—complete with jewelry from his personal collection. Darcelle’s pageant crowns are behind glass, though visitors can get a closer look at two of the pageant scepters she won, one of which is plainly a diamond- and pearl-encrusted toilet plunger. Portraits of Darcelle and Waters hang on gallery walls, while display cases and plinths hold Cole’s onstage and offstage shoes, including what looks like a pair of bedazzled Vans-style slip-ons, and mementos of Cole’s spouse, Roxy, who died in 2017. Though a great deal of Cole’s and Waters’ media appearances were cataloged, WW’s 1975 article that coined the club’s tagline “That’s no lady, that’s Darcelle!” was absent. Maybe we find one in time for the next exhibit?