STRUT’s resilient return to Tulsa

(TULSA, Okla.) FASHION. It has always been about making a statement. And while that can be said about what drives Tiara Crawford, her visionary House of Selah has a higher calling. 

“It started out, kind of in my home. In my living room, just kind of helping out with the youth,” Crawford told VNN. “Giving them something to do. I already had the trade of sewing and merchandising and fashion. And they were intrigued.”   

Crawford said the need for that creative space only increased. They soon had a house full of youth, finishing projects, and working through social and emotional problems in the process. Over time, those humble beginnings transformed into an official, Tulsa Public Schools-affiliated program.

“We would go, and we would plant trees, build houses, feed the homeless,” Crawford said. “While we worked on the STRUT fashion play.” 

Crawford said House of Selah’s fashion play is an original concept highlighting different causes.

Nearly two decades later, House of Selah’s “STRUT For Your Cause” fashion play was a multi-city showcase of local fashion designers, models, dancers, actors, and stylists. 

In 2020, the pandemic forced their fashion play to take a one-year hiatus. But, Crawford said, it’s made their journey to the ultimate goal that much more meaningful. 

“You always find out as an artist, that you’re telling your own story,” Crawford said. “I thought I was telling Miss STRUT’s story but I’m actually telling my own. Two years ago, 2019, I broke both of my feet. Shattered one, broke the other. And I was still able to do STRUT in crutches by the time the show came around. And the next year Covid hit. And so, there’s this journey that I’ve been on with this production.” 

And the journey is far from over. 

“I promised myself by my 20th year, I would be cutting the ribbon to my own school,” Crawford said. “My own building. The House of Selah. Everything that I’ve been doing for the last, you know, almost 20 years has been to have this educational center. There’s no place really for the creative artist. And I really wanted the House of Selah to be that.”  

It’s only fitting that the annual fashion play turns 18 years old this year. Oklahoma 2019 STRUT Queen KeVisha Cyrus brings her fashion play on addiction/mental health to the outdoor space at 400 Civic Center on Saturday, September 11.

“It’s a powerful story line,” Crawford said. “It’s about being born perfect, and then accepting society labels that were not so perfect. That we may have flaws. And then what happens in the mind when we’re trapped inside this idea that you can’t do it. And you don’t have enough.” 

The winner who sells the most tickets for their cause gets the crown, $2,000 in internship training, and $3,500 to put on a fashion play for their cause the next year. 

And a portion of the proceeds will go toward making Crawford’s creative space dream a reality.

“We’re rooting for the House of Selah as a community for all of our creative artists,” Crawford said. “And so, it’s like we’re all working together to make this dream come true for our city. And our state. And for local artists that really need a place to call home.”  

You can purchase tickets here.

To donate to the House of Selah creative space, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/creative-arts-school-the-house-of-selah