Kendra and Mercedes Arciniega threw a private Pride party for friends in 2021, hiring drag artist Glenn Coco to host and play several rounds of a beloved game from their childhood, loteria.
“Glenn performed Selena and Whitney Houston songs,” Kendra said. “It was a total blast. We realized we were onto something and worked with Estrella, the owner of Cafecito Bonito, to collaborate on another Drag Lotería that next year and open it up to the public. It sold out almost instantly. Then we just kept doing it, and Arciniega Street Productions was born.”
Kendra founded Arciniega Street Productions, a production company focusing on community-building events and entertainment as well as storytelling through television, film and web, with her wife, Mercedes last year.
Arciniega Street Productions hosts two monthly all-ages events: Drag Lotería and concert series Lights Down Low, an Alt-R&B and Neo-Soul music experience, as well as two adult-only quarterly events, including a thematic drag, diva and burlesque show called “VIBES,” and a new drag dinner show, PAPAYA.
“We produce community programs and events in the entertainment scene, and we’re also a production company that develops scripted content,” Arciniega said. “We also do mutual aid events and fundraisers here and there. We are very involved in community activation for various social causes. Whatever the community calls for, we try to respond by leveraging our skills, our relationships, and our reach to engage, activate, or support folks.”
Kendra and Mercedes are both performers in Anchorage and became involved behind the scenes in producing, managing artists and songwriting beginning in 2016. Kendra said she quickly noticed an imbalance in how the local scene valued local artists, primarily artists of color.
In 2021, Kendra received a Rasmuson Foundation Artist Award grant to write a scripted series about intersectional queer culture in Anchorage with a focus on the performing arts. She said she became more entrenched in the local drag scene, and learned of the inequity and “scarcity of opportunities” impacting local drag performers.
Arciniega Street Productions is named after a street a 10-minute walk to the Alamo in the heart of San Antonio, Texas, as well as Arciniega’s family and Tejano ancestors.
“My relatives and ancestors have always been immersed in cultural affairs and the arts,” she said. “We’re a small but mighty company that does a lot of the same, in our own way. It’s an homage to those that came before me.”
As a “queer kid from a Mexican-American border town,” Kendra said she did not feel safe growing up in Anchorage, and had a terrible experience in the school system, with no opportunities to connect to queer elders or culture in Alaska.
“I know Mercedes feels the same way,” Kendra said. “I’m Mexican; she’s Filipino. We’re both gay, and we both spent much of our youth making ourselves smaller in order to survive. We know we have a say in what kind of community we have now. We’re building the community we needed when we were younger.”
Kendra said the production company has exciting projects slated for 2024, including a scripted series that will prioritize local talent in front of as well as behind the camera.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.