While many university clubs find comfort in a chain of command, one group is breaking free from hierarchy altogether.
Quilted is a community of artists from Queen’s and the greater Kingston community who work collaboratively on projects based on their interests, contributing to Kingston’s alternative subculture through community-driven events like hosting community raves and photoshoots.
The group describes itself as a collective of artists who pursue different work, like music, filmmaking, fashion design, and more. Founder Hugo Lam, Comm ’27, wrote in an e-mail statement to The Journal that Quilted is an “ecosystem that supports artists end to end—so they can produce, collaborate, and showcase sustainably.” Established in 2023, the collective has over 60 active members. What sets it apart is its deliberately non-hierarchical structure, meaning a member is “in charge” of another, instead of leading individual projects with support from other members.
In an interview with The Journal, Lam rocked shiny snakeskin boots and a confident attitude. “What we’re looking for is people who take initiative, because everything happens [when] members want to do it,” Lam said. Quilted isn’t an AMS-registered club, and according to Lam, the group applied in 2024, but didn’t follow through due to concerns with AMS affiliation limiting their reach outside Queen’s.
Quilted asks members to bring their own artistic projects to the group, so they can collaborate with other members. Filmmaker Skyler Hogan, ArtSci ’27, is in the pre-production process of creating a short film with Quilted.
“I was inspired by this piece I heard in music class and started writing stuff down and storyboarding it,” Hogan said in an interview with The Journal. “I showed it to [Quilted], and now we’re working to pitch it to videographers, actors, and editors,” he said.
Hogan explained that teamwork’s one of Quilted’s greatest strengths, and that a lack of hierarchy in the creative space allows for better communication among artists. “You’ve no shortage of people who trust your vision all the way through,” he said. In other creative groups, getting ideas off the ground can be complicated by bureaucratic processes of getting projects approved, or by tensions over who’s in charge.
But lacking a hierarchical structure sometimes hinders Quilted’s projects. “You need restrictions in order to be productive, but you don’t want to cut creativity by restricting yourself,” Quilted member Sébastian Van der Woude, Sci ’27, said in an interview with The Journal. Lam says a healthy balance between freedom and productivity is something the group hopes to develop in the future.
“I think Quilted is a really great hub for people who’re disillusioned with the general culture around Queen’s,” Hogan said. He hopes the collective can make space for “strange and countercultural” art in Kingston.
Creating art’s just as important as creating a place to share it for members of Quilted. Van der Woude said a space to push boundaries, having a creative outlet free of fear is “a really powerful thing.”
Tags
Arts, clubs, collective, Quilted, Student life
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