Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Viti.
Hannah, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m a Chicago gal through and through. My story is inexplicably a story of Chicago. My upbringing was shaped by the characters, streets, and traditions of this fine city. Many of my earliest formative memories take place in a coffee shop called Metropolis located in Edgewater, on Granville. I was twelve years old and would sit in the shop every morning before school, my mother had to work early and the shop was a few blocks from a school. A perfect time to finish homework, soon turned into my social or interview hour. The people who frequented the store grew to be influential friends and family. Each more different than the next, each leaving me with a different nugget of advice. I began a practice of conversation interviewing that I still hold very dear to this day. Later in my life, I would realize I was queer, but before this, I remember experiencing sexism and heteronormativity, the assumption that heterosexuality is the only valid sexuality and the norm. I soon become obsessed with space — and how to create safe, inviting spaces for everyone, but particularity women, LGBTQ folk and people of color. After graduating college I put my love for conversational interviewing– a practice of inviting and inquiring story sharing, where the invitee values the speakers experience and provides safe, welcoming space, to use. Along with my co-producer Theresa Carper, I began to interview the brilliant Chicagoans in my community. Activists, Business Owens, Artists, Performers, Therapists, DJs — my goal was, and is, to create an inter-generational platform for constructive dialogue to preserve Chicago history, prioritize social justice and create space for narratives often left out to the conversation. My other passion project is to create physical space that is both welcoming, inviting, nourishing and even sexy. Along with Co-founders Bre Auberry and Morgan Higgins, we’ve created Peach, a reoccurring event series across Chicago (& beyond!) that unifies and empower LGBTQ women and femme family. We create spaces and experiences that elicit community and love, that prioritize queer safety and sensuality.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There are always bumps along the road, aren’t there?! However, overall, I’ve been very blessed and supported in my endeavors. I do remember my days in college when I was realizing I was gay. I went to a very small University in Indiana. It was a majority Greek institution.,and there I was in the middle of conservative Indiana, far away from my beloved city upbringing, in a sorority. Gay. For a long time, I hid this about myself, ashamed, confused, scared. I ended up coming out in the college newspaper after our campus was attacked by right-wing protesters. I came out because I was in a position of privilege, I could come out and continue to live safely. At the same time, I was busy doing my work for the campus LGBTQ community in silence. I was still very interested in the concept of space and who had access to it. As a white member of Greek life majority culture on campus, I did have access to most spaces, but not as my truest self. There were certainly no public queer spaces and a lack of inclusive spaces in general. If you didn’t at least look like you fit the frat boy/sorority mold, you didn’t have many places to go. When I came out, there were intense moments of worry, rejection, and humiliation. Coming out in such a public fashion meant my family, professors and everyone in between knew this intimate detail of my life. It was an intense time, but looking back I’m so much better off for it.
Please tell us about Peach Party & The V Show.
My podcast, The V Show is an extension of my community and the need to inquire about and capture the brilliance around me. I’m proud of the physical and virtual spaces The V Show creates. I welcome guests, normally friends, into my home to share their story, their work, and to engage in a larger conversation generally rooted in race, class, gender, politics, queerness or creation. I engage in a process I call conversational interviewing. I’m proud of the respectful exchange of experiences and culture. What sets this apart is the DIY foundation. An integral – ethnographic study of Chicago stories, Chicago people, resilience, and defiance. I’m an aspiring DJ, slowly but surely creeping out of the bedroom, and radio, coming to a function near you. You’ll hear my love for music in the podcast, I’m known for my passion for music its ability to capture a moment, reveal narrative.
My other venture, Peach, creates stylish and sensational space for women and queer people to connect and empower. Friendship love, community, sensuality and joy are prioritized. I’m proud of the creative people who join forces with us, each event offers something completely different. The music, dance, design, and craft, even the venue is completely unique to that moment. I’m proud and thankful to the people who come to space and connect, who do they work of showing up radiantly visible. This series the theme is The Elements. We’ve incorporated an element — each one uniquely vital, into the curation of the event. We had our Air event in May at the Ace Hotel, Water got wet last weekend and next up, Earth at the Emil Bach House in Rogers Park. This event centers community and self-wellness and care. Fire will be in August, and expect we’ll be going out with a bang!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have learned an instrument! Or at least practiced every day. Along those lines, I was a little girl who definitely felt like there was not a future for her in the math and science fields. I struggled to find teachers who I could relate to when it came to STEM. In my podcasting & DJing, I’ve really had to embrace technology. I’m proud of the job I’m doing, but there is always room to grow. First step is just feeling comfortable, which I realized I had hardcore internalized the messages that technology was not comfortable or accessible for someone like me. Recently, I’ve seen a lot of support for girls in STEM and it brings me so much joy and encouragement!
Pricing:
- Tickets to Peach parties range from $15-$25, https://www.thepeachparty.com/events/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thepeachparty.com/
- Phone: 773-230-0105
- Email: hannah.viti@gmail.com
- Instagram: @worshipthev, @peachpartyofficial
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thevshowchicago/
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/thevshow
Image Credit:
Ruby Images, Collectivo Multipolar
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