Thomas Huerter

My thesis project responds to the issue of queer erasure in the Midwest by creating spaces to facilitate connection for queer people. Queerness and the Midwest are not mutually exclusive; they are and always have been inextricably linked. This research explores queer space, queerness, and metronormativity in the Midwest through interior design research and practice. Ideas of metronormativity reduce queer visibility and lead to queer erasure in the Midwest. The reversal of this erasure could increase queer comfort in the Midwest, as well as change Midwestern attitudes and therefore national realities. How can we increase visibility and community for queer people to change the social narrative? My design is pods located in Urban Abbey—a church and coffeeshop in Omaha, Nebraska, that is run and founded by queer women. The pods allow queer Midwesterners to connect to their history, and each other. Users can view and listen to the library from the Queer Omaha Archives at the University of Nebraska Omaha from the pod. They can also leave messages behind in communal journals, as well as open the partitions between pods to connect with each other. This project is dedicated to the queer Midwesterners whose stories matter.