House of Avalon on Queer Creative Collaboration, Avalon TV and the American Dream

Words: Gina Tonic | Photographer: Savanna Ruedy | Creative Direction: Ione Gamble | Stylist: Abby Gordon | Glam: Carla Perez | Video: Camille Mariet

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It takes a village to raise a child and it takes the House of Avalon seven legends to create, well, whatever they want. Following in the queer tradition of creating a chosen family and using everyone’s unique creative skills to succeed in drag, performance, art and entertainment, the House of Avalon celebrated a decade of joint glamour together this year. The House is comprised of the founder of the house, Hunter Crenshaw, RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Symone and Gigi Goode - the former won the competition in season thirteen while Goode placed runner up in season twelve of the show, stylist Marko Monroe, makeup artist Rylie Holden, videographer and social media maestro Caleb and LA drag icon Grant Vanderbilt.

After taking LA nightlife by storm as well as collaborating to show their best work on the aforementioned competition show, it was only a matter of time before someone clocked on that this House’s collective charisma needed to be seen by the masses. In 2023, the seven took to our screens to debut their variety show, Avalon TV on World of Wonder Plus to rapturous response - personifying the phrase ‘team work makes the dream work’. The second season of Avalon TV premiered in August 2024 and we caught up with the group before the end of the year to get a sneak peek into what makes their collaboration work so well, the nuances of marginalised representation and achieving the American Dream.

Can you give us a brief explanation of how each member came to be in the House of Avalon? I know you’ve said it’s complicated before, but the people want to know!

GRANT: Hunter and I grew up in the same town, Bald Knob, Arkansas. We became friends mostly after high school. I went to UCA in Conway for college, while Hunter moved to Chicago to attend Columbia. That's where I met Mark in a Drawing II class in Conway. I thought he'd be a great fit for Hunter, so I introduced them. They hit it off, and after Mark finished school, they spent a summer in New York. When they came back, we reconnected, and since Arkansas can be pretty boring, we had to create our own fun.

We started throwing house parties. Eventually, Caleb moved in with Mark and Hunter, and he joined in. It became the four of us throwing these wild parties. We’d completely transform the house—move the furniture, wallpaper the walls, even cover the place in tin foil. Each party had a new aesthetic. One day, a club owner noticed and asked us to start throwing parties at their venue. We became the creative directors for the club, curating different themed nights. Along the way, we met Symone and hit it off instantly.

Later, we went to DragCon and finally met Rylie in person—though we’d known her online for a while. When we met, it was clear she was part of our world. 

RYLIE:  We became friends on social media, and when we finally met at DragCon one year, it was like an instant connection — like, "Wait, were we separated at birth? Who are our mom and dad?" From the moment we met, it was family, an immediate connection.

GRANT: When we decided to move to LA, it felt like assembling the Avengers. First, the core four of us (Grant, Hunter, Marko, and Caleb) moved out, then Symone, and later Rylie came from Florida. Once in LA, we met Gigi at Mickey's [a gay nightclub in West Hollywood] and she started hosting with us. Her energy brought something fresh to our group. It just took off from there.

MARK: At the time between college and moving to LA, I was reading this book called A Return To Love by Marianne Williamson which talked about The Mists of Avalon being this childlike place. When we decided to form an artist collective based on that childlike wonder, that's where we got the name Avalon.

I think there’s so much to be said about promoting collaboration in a time where successful people are shown to be monoliths, especially when their biggest public opportunities come in the form of competition. What’s so important to you about prioritising teamwork and friendship?

GIGI: Teamwork really does make the dream work. People say they can do it all on their own but it's always a group effort. I would be remiss to ignore all the hard work that others contribute to make the end result as great as it is.

SYMONE: It’s how we operate—it’s literally just how we do our thing. It would be disingenuous for any one of us to claim, “This is all me.” Sure, it’s my work, but it’s also all of our brains working together, all of our collective creativity. It’s important for people to see that because it shows them that they’re not alone. It takes a village, and not everything has to be on one person’s shoulders. I think that’s something people need to know.

“It’s how we operate—it’s literally just how we do our thing. It would be disingenuous for any one of us to claim, ‘This is all me.’”

HUNTER: This is like the "man behind the curtain" situation from The Wizard of Oz. It's cliche, but after moving to Hollywood, we realised that nothing happens without a team. The best creative ideas come from collaboration. I enjoy the fact that we don’t let our egos get in the way. When we’re asked whose idea something was, we never pinpoint one person because it’s always a collaboration. Each of us contributes multiple ideas to the main concept.

I’m happy we don’t have that "it was me" mentality. It’s everyone’s job and everyone’s creative idea. In Hollywood, we often hear about individuals taking credit, but behind every big star or project, there’s usually a team working together. If it's Symone on Drag Race, or Mark working with Lizzo, or Gigi or Grant working with somebody, you have seen our mind in pop culture somewhere. We know that it's a collaboration at the end of the day and behind every big star, like in Wizard of Oz, there's a man behind the curtain.

The variety show style leaves you with so much creative freedom, but is there anything you haven’t gotten to do yet that you’d love to have a stab at

CALEB: Whenever I think about the show, most of my ideas lean toward silly things for Drag Ass. I feel like most of my inspiration goes there. So, when it comes to what we have, I’d say my ideas are more about building on what we’re already doing rather than adding entirely new things.

I want to get more real. I think it's hard for us sometimes because emotionally we're kind of scared to let some of our real problems or real issues that we have show but I think that, creatively and emotionally, it would be good for people to see things like that. The real struggles of our lives.We've always known that our lives and the way we live our life is artwork to us and I think that creatively continuing to show that is all I want to do.

GRANT: I've been begging for a musical episode. I want something that feels like a regular episode of Avalon TV—with reality, skits, the talk show—but all as a musical. Every word is sung.

Why is it so important to have tangible representation for marginalised people outside of social media?

GIGI: I think people don’t always realise that we’re all part of this massive pot that’s boiling over right now. Supporting marginalised communities or people living different lives shouldn’t feel like an extra effort—it should be an innate thing. Unfortunately, we’ve been taught for so long that “our way” is the only way. But we’re pretty rapidly moving towards a future where it’s more instinctive to embrace diversity.

RYLIE: It’s great for people to be loud and proud online, but it’s even more important to be unapologetically yourself in person. You can be anything you want on the internet, but it takes more to truly be yourself in real life. Showing up as who we are and supporting each other in person is powerful. When I was younger, I looked up to the club kids and wanted to find that same kind of community. I didn’t see it in person back then, but now we’re here, and kids who might not look online for it will see us and think, "Oh my God, I want that too."

“Watching more queer people and queer success stories on television — it’s not something I had when I was younger.”

“We've always known that our lives and the way we live our life is artwork to us and I think that creatively continuing to show that is all I want to do.”

CALEB: I think it’s crucial because I come from a time when there wasn’t a lot of representation on TV. It’s really beautiful to see things getting better now. Watching more queer people and queer success stories on television — it’s not something I had when I was younger. Back then, I’d have to sneak around or dig hard to find any queer content or representation in the media. Even when we had gay idols, many of them had to stay closeted because of society’s expectations. So, I’m really happy to see more relatable queer content and success stories out there. It’s especially important for young people to see that.

SYMONE: Social media has this air about it where people don’t always take it at face value. They know how it works now, so when you see representation on TV, it feels more real. It shows people, “I can have that too. I’m not alone.” It helps people realise that their experiences are valid, that they’re not the only ones going through it, and that success is possible for them. Social media can sometimes feel like an illusion, but we’re real people. I promise—it’s not a simulation.

I wanted to ask what does the American Dream means to you and if you think you’ve achieved it?

HUNTER: I wouldn’t say it’s the traditional American Dream, but I do believe in the concept. In some ways, we are living it because we have so many opportunities to do unexpected things. For example, I try to explain to my family how we survive, and it really comes down to being creative together. If you’re creative enough, you don’t have to adhere to a traditional 9-to-5 job. I’m not saying that those jobs aren’t creative, but what we want is to be creative all the time. To me, the American Dream is about figuring out how to make that a reality — doing what you love all the time — and that’s exactly what we do.

MARK: The American Dream is something I hold dear because it embodies potential and the creative limitations one can—or can’t—have. For us as a house, we are living a chapter of that dream. I don’t think our work is ever done, but I feel we are in the process of achieving our dreams. I've experienced so many incredible things that I never imagined would happen, and I think that kind of opportunity is uniquely possible in a place like America.