Saturday, October 3, 2026 at 6:00 PM to Sunday, October 11, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Human Resources, Los Angeles
**[RSVP](https://2026.circafestival.org/exhibition/cruise-la-10-years-deep-exhibit-opening-party/)** Join us for an immersive opening celebration of Cruise LA’s 10th anniversary, where the exhibition and living culture merge. Through photographs, ephemera, and installation, the exhibit traces how Cruise LA has become a catalyst for reshaping the Los Angeles leather/kink community by creating space for the people who disrupt the leather archetype. Historically unwelcoming to many racialized and gender-expansive people, the local leather community continues to be transformed by those insisting on new ways of belonging. For one night, Cruise LA’s monthly party spills into the Human Resources gallery in Chinatown. Revel in the pleasures of queer liberation and embodied connection with our resident DJ, gogo dancers, BDSM demonstrations, and artist activations that blur the line between exhibition and celebration. Come dressed up, dressed down, or anywhere in between—there is no dress code, we dare you to be bold. A free clothes check will be available for guests who want to shed some layers once inside. Photography is permitted throughout the event, but only with the consent of everyone being photographed. Wander through a decade of Cruise LA’s intimate history, then get embodied in our recreation of a leather bar darkroom, where you’re invited to explore your own desires with friends—or some beloved strangers. Leave with a deeper sense of the radical possibilities of pleasure, embodiment, and chosen community. By journeying through the exhibit and into the party, guests are invited to imagine what becomes possible when we trust our bodies, make space for one another’s desires, and practice joy together, even amid uncertainty. **Exhibition on view Thursdays-Sunday**s,** 12-6 pm.** Opening reception on **Saturday, October 3** **from 6-1****0 pm** with performances** **at** 7 pm** sharp: featuring (in order of performance) Strange Kindness, Page Person, Mary Typhus, Anansi, & Mowgli Wilde Closing event on **Sunday, October 11 from 2:00–6:00 pm **featuring flash tattoo by Comonground Studio artists Charlie Boy and Roz, bootblacking by Cruise LA community bootblacks, and exhibit walkthroughs with Cruise LA founders Ponylee & Vanessa Craig, and queer nightlife photographer Amina Cruz. **About Cruise LA** Cruise LA marks 10 years of facilitating connection through community leather and kink events, centering historically disenfranchised communities through arts-based programming, cultural events, and joyful gathering. Founded in 2016 by Pony Lee and Vanessa Craig, the heart of Cruise LA has evolved with the people who showed up—on the floor, behind the bar, in the booth, on the team, and in the crowd. Since its founding, Cruise LA has produced the only monthly party at Eagle LA exclusively centering women and TGI people. In 2019, Cruise premiered the first Mx. leather title in Los Angeles, continuing its work of carving out space for communities historically marginalized within Leather. Joy and pleasure have always been central to that work. Alongside parties and cultural programming, Cruise LA has cultivated resources for harm reduction, safer play, education, mutual aid, and collective care—grounded in radical self-acceptance and interdependence. As Cruise LA celebrates a decade, we honor those who came before us and fought to create the foundations of our community, as well as everyone who has shaped Cruise along the way. Their legacy lives on in the art, events, relationships, and spaces we continue to create together—spaces that celebrate systemically excluded bodies and expand what belonging in Leather can look like. Add to calendar Google Calendar iCalendar Outlook 365 Outlook Live