Finesstor Luminosity says that as a queer artist of color, he was inspired by Arciniega Street Productions to form his own collective in Anchorage.
“They’re the ones that made me realize my worth as a queer person,” he said.
He founded The House of Luminosity, a group of queer artists and performers, which was initially inspired by ballroom communities in New York City.
“I wanted to create a space for artists to grow,” he said. “There’s these different intersections that I celebrate, being a person of color, being queer and being a Filipino immigrant, it’s important to have myself forward because I want to blaze a trail for people that look like me, people that think like me and people that want to pursue music.”
Also known as Alaska’s Filipino Prince of Soul, the R&B artist was born and raised in the Philippines. Finesstor grew up in church, where music was a constant in his life. Both of his parents were pastors and his mom was the choir director, and both competed professionally. Finesstor himself was involved in plenty of singing competitions and talent shows growing up,
“When we moved here and I got my ears pierced, I got disciplinary action from my parents… After that I got scared, as a queer person, I’m like, ‘If they are going to freak out about that, they are going to freak out even more if they find out I was gay,” he said.
Finesstor says he ran away and was homeless for about a month before getting his own place. He soon began “adopting” queer individuals who were displaced due to their own home situations.
“The ballroom community, that’s how they started,” Finesstor said. “They started out of a sense of urgency to protect someone, they started because queer people are getting kicked out of their homes.”
“A house mother adopts their house kids, their house daughter, their house sons, whatever it is because in the queer community, we need leaders to guide these kids that are confused,” he continued. “Those people that choose to be house mothers, they are the people that have seen themselves in those queer kids, youth and young adults and have decided to take them in as their own.”
House of Luminosity exists to promote “queer, trans, Black, Indigenous people of color, that are also artists, that are dancers, singers, burlesque performers, drag queens, all of them.”
“I want to nurture the next generation because nobody really did it for us except for Arciniega Street Productions,” Finesstor said. “Those two are my mothers. They have cultivated my artistry and my queerness, and also with the help of BBAD Productions, with Andrea Antoine, I’m in debt to her also for launching me into these communities and introducing me to the public.”
In addition to his work at House of Luminosity, Finesstor is working on his single, “Tell Me,” which will come out sometime in 2026.
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.
