Over the summer of 2025/26, 25-year-old Uniting Vic.Tas consumer Ruby Wyatt-Carter ran a series of ‘Portraits of Queer GV’ workshops throughout regional Victoria, creating a safe space for young queer people to explore their connection to identity.
The project has a simple yet powerful premise – create a paper collage that portrays how you feel about your own identity as a queer youth.
After identifying a critical gap in service offerings and third spaces for queer youth in smaller regional towns, Ruby wanted to create an environment where queer youth felt welcomed and emboldened to leave the house and participate in the community, similar to the feelings of belonging and comfortability they experienced as a participant in Uniting’ Diversity Youth Group in Shepparton, a group they have been a part of since they were 15.
“Going to that group on a regular basis, like being surrounded by other queer young people, it just makes me feel so safe to be myself, like I don’t have to pretend to be anyone. I don’t have to worry about people making assumptions about me…I can just be myself in the space and feel completely safe for 90 minutes to 2 hours. It’s great and I want to spread that feeling.”
“Young queer youth in the current day, seeing what you see on the news, perhaps your parents don’t accept you [and] all the things that are going through their heads, would be something that keeps them at home,” Ruby said.
Feelings of isolation and disconnect are far too common for queer youth in small regional towns due to a lack of visibility and representation. “I live in the Moira shire … and there’s no queer anything. I have to go to Shepparton for that,” Ruby said.
The Portraits of Queer GV premise was born through Ruby’s own experience growing up queer in regional Victoria where they often turned to sketching and self-portraits to decipher thoughts around identity and sexuality. Particularly in their teen years, Ruby used self-portraits to connect to their identity and who they were, a practice they continue to this day.
After securing a grant from the Midsummer Regional Arts Program to fund the project, Ruby ran 10 workshops across the state between November 2025 to January 2026. The groups were comprised of mostly queer youth who had already been attending established Uniting Vic.Tas youth groups.
Using the medium of collaging allows participants to remain anonymous, while allowing them to “express themselves through art but remain hidden in a way”, Ruby said. Collaging is also considered a more accessible form of art for people with no artistic background, thereby removing barriers for participants who may be questioning their ability to artistically express themselves.
Core to the program’s success has been the private brainstorm session Ruby facilitates before they reach for the materials, often proving to be most participants’ favourite part of the workshop. The session invites participants to privately reflect on what makes them who they are and how they view themselves. Ruby said this helps to guide their own creative process and what they want to portray in their collage.
The program’s impact can be felt through the individual stories coming out of the workshops, including that of a frequently absentee young queer person who program facilitators were struggling to engage with. During Ruby’s workshop however, the young person was engaged and completed a minimalist monochrome collage that Ruby believes spoke volumes and revealed more feelings of emotion than other participants could reveal through overtly colourful pieces. “My main contact for the group said it was a miracle that person showed up and it’s a miracle they got that much done,” they said.
Ruby hopes that through their workshop, that young person’s engagement in youth groups was reignited, and they continue to return on a regular basis.
Since the workshops concluded, Ruby has entered some of the collages into gallery exhibitions, including the recently held Shepparton Festival, to allow participants to view their own artwork and be proud of who they are. The portraits are also set to be exhibited at The Old Auction House Gallery in Kyneton and Gippsland Art Gallery.
In addition to the exhibitions, Ruby has also compiled a book of all the participants’ portraits which are available to buy on GV Pride’s website. They invite those viewing the book to spend time reflecting on each portrait and thinking about the individual behind the collage – their thoughts, feelings and intentions behind the piece.
Ruby hopes that queer spaces in regional Victoria continue to grow and meet the demand of queer youth seeking safe spaces. “Surely there’s more gays out there”.
Uniting Vic.Tas Diversity Project Worker Georgina Poort expressed how proud their community was of Ruby’s workshops and their positive impact on queer youth in the area.
“As we head towards our thirty-year celebration of the Diversity Project, we are thrilled to see an incredible Diversity Group consumer thriving and facilitating a project that has helped our young people in Greater Shepparton see themselves in spaces and places that they wouldn’t otherwise be present in. We are so proud and inspired by Ruby and this project.”
