Meet Queen Ultima | Drag Queen & Performance Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Queen Ultima and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Queen, career-wise, where do you want to be in the end?
There are several ultimate goals that correspond to the mission of Ultima. In terms of self-fulfillment, I want to feel like I have made a statement as an artist that inspires other people to stand up for good in the world. I want to feel like I have lived fully, and deeply, and richly through my creativity and performance.

It is the dream to support myself entirely on my drag career at some point, and to work as a queen full-time. I want to be an international performer, and to release at least one album (I’m currently working on my first musical project now!). I am writing a book now, and am really excited about publishing in the future. From this novel I am manifesting a best-selling book tour, a film adaptation, and an acting career.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I like to moonlight as Ultima, but during the day I work in the field of mental health. I am currently working as a clinical research coordinator on a suicide prevention study, and I have about 3.5 years of mental health counseling experience under my belt (with an emphasis on adolescent and addiction counseling). I have a passion for harm reduction and crisis intervention, and have volunteered with the Zendo Project and other psychedelic harm reduction groups at various music festivals and related events offering peer-to-peer support to individuals experiencing psychospiritual crises. I am excited to be volunteering with the Zendo Project at the Psychedelic Science 2023 conference, right here in Denver, CO this June. I am currently pursuing a graduate degree in clinical mental health counseling, and hope to integrate my interests in drag, art, yoga, psychedelics into a therapy practice in the future.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I was hosting a best friend in Denver, I’d say during the day let’s go biking on Cherry Creek Trail, and take a yoga class at Park Hill Yoga. We would have to go to happy hour at Shells & Sauce, my favorite restaurant in town. A must do (that I take all of my guests to) is taking a driving tour of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge to see the bison (the best time to go is in the spring!). If it’s cold, I recommend taking a spa day at Indian Hot Springs.

In terms of night life in Denver, I highly recommend skate night at Tracks. Charlie’s is a great place to catch a drag show. The Beacon and Reelworks are two awesome Burning Man community-affiliated venues I recommend. You can’t beat a show at Red Rocks, but Bluebird Theatre always has great shows.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate a shoutout to my alma mater, New College of Florida. New College is a small public liberal arts honors college in Sarasota, Florida. Most people haven’t heard of it because it’s such a small school. It was founded as an educational experiment that meant to put the final responsibility for education in the hands of students. The educational model uses an evaluation system (rather than a grading system), independent study periods, and senior thesis projects, basically all to help cultivate inspired, free-thinking, curious, inquisitive, and productive minds. It was academically rigorous, and a place that gave me a unique education where I left feeling like I had learned how to think for and teach myself.

The campus culture is also incredibly special to me, because it is where I learned how to exist as a queer person. New College definitely has a reputation for being a queer haven, and for having a politically conscious and progressive student body. Being part of the community at the school helped me to challenge internalized prejudices I held, not just about homophobia, but about racism and classism as well. It felt like a safe space where myself and others could experiment with our identities, question what we had been taught, and be creative. I did my first drag performance there, before I had even dreamed of being a professional queen.cAlso, it was the first place I have ever existed that normalized considerations for mental health and neurodivergence. Honestly, I could go on and on about the things I love about New College of Florida. One of the school’s mottos is “The natural state of the human spirit is ecstatic wonder,” and that really expresses the fullness of the experience I received by attending that school.

It feels especially important to recognize New College now, because the governor of Florida, Ron Desantis, initiated a restructuring of the school at the beginning of the year. This process has involved appointing six new board of trustee members, and firing and replacing the acting New College president. The mission of the process is to transform the school into “the Hillsdale of the South.” Hillsdale College is a private conservative Christian liberal arts college, kind of the opposite vibes of what New College gives. Basically it is a conservative attack on education, and an attempt to quash diversity, equity, inclusion, and “wokeism” in Florida. I feel it’s important to speak out about this because New College is such a special place and its mission should be preserved. If this takeover at New College ends up being successful, then this loss of diversity in education can spread to other institutions. If you’d like to learn more about this issue, you can check out https://savenewcollege.org/.

Website: queenultima.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queen_ultima/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/queenultima

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbr_yuRuiKCnJk-XxuJujwg

Image Credits
Irie Givens Sabrina Finn Catherine Openshaw