“Slay the Canvas”: Palm Springs Pride Shines with Rene Porter’s New Drag-Inspired Art Exhibit at Cicada Fine Art

Pride month in Palm Springs is officially underway, and Cicada Fine Art Gallery is marking the celebration with a bold new exhibit that captures the heart and spirit of drag.

Tomorrow, the gallery will unveil “Slay the Canvas,” a striking collection of twelve oil paintings by award-winning queer artist Rene Porter. The exhibit, a year and a half in the making, pays tribute to local drag performers and the transformative power of self-expression.

“This is the first painting I did of the series—this is Ethylina Canne,” Porter said, standing before her work outside the gallery. “When I was a little girl, my dad would draw pictures, and I thought it was magic. He’d draw clowns, and to me, that was pure creation. What drag artists do feels like that same kind of magic—creating a persona out of nothing.”

Porter credits Ethylina Canne, a local drag queen, for introducing her to the performers who would become the muses of the collection. Each piece celebrates the individuality, glamour, and resilience of drag artists—figures who, Porter says, “turn performance into living art.”

Gallery owner Christopher Cummings, who is also celebrating Cicada Fine Art’s second anniversary, said the timing couldn’t be better.

“With Pride and our two-year anniversary happening together, it felt only natural to feature an LGBTQ artist like Renee,” Cummings said. “Her work is not only visually stunning but also deeply connected to queer identity and celebration.”

Every detail of Slay the Canvas—from the composition to the brushwork—was meticulously planned. Porter hopes the exhibit will inspire audiences to see drag not as a fringe art form but as a vital part of cultural history.

“What I hope is that when people leave, they understand that drag has been around a long time,” Porter said. “It’s not something taboo—it’s something beautiful.”

The Slay the Canvas exhibit opens tomorrow at Cicada Fine Art in downtown Palm Springs as part of the city’s Pride festivities. It joins a lineup of events leading up to Sunday’s Pride Parade, offering residents and visitors alike a powerful celebration of art, identity, and community.