LGBT / meetup / radio — No comments
20
Jan 10
Davone Madison, photographed at the Stonewall Inn. © Tony Gale
Davone Madison
Davone Madison, Business Woman and Entrepeneur, is a force to be reckoned with. As Founder and CEO of The Dollhouse Enterprises Inc., Davone has established a foundation and meetup.com network of several hundred professional women with alternative lifestyles. Her goal is to create a safe place for lesbians, bi-sexual women and their friends to socialize and network with like-minded professionals. With her visionary work, Davone is helping eliminate the stigmatisms and stereotypes associated with alternative lifestyles. Dollhouse members participate in raising awareness and funds for charitable organizations, including the LGBT Center, and also gather for social events ranging from nights on the town, bowling and movies to exquisite brunches and dinners.
Davone also co-hosts Lezplay Radio every Saturday, an internet radio show for lesbians, hosted by lesbians, which covers many topics relevant to the lesbian community, including relationships, sex, parties, domestic violence, and more.
Davone has passionately taken on the need to nurture an underserved community and educate society on what it means to live an alternative lifestyle, and she is doing it with her characteristic style and charisma. Kudos to Davone!
nominated and described by Andrea Reese
art / artist / desert / religon — No comments
06
Jan 10
Leonard Knight at Salvation Mountain © Tony Gale
Leonard Knight
There should be more Leonard Knights in the world.
Leonard is a simple man. In his late 70’s, he is hard of hearing and becoming fragile. He lives in a 20 foot trailer 150 miles from what most of us would call a real city; in the desert, on abandoned military land. He has no electricity and brings water to his home in a 200 gallon tank. Leonard calls it paradise.
Driven by a singular passion, Leonard Knight has devoted decades to constructing a monument. A monument in paint and straw bale and mud to love and God…..Crackpot? Corny? Weirdo? Yes on all counts, by contemporary standards. But Leonard doesn’t care much about contemporary standards. Leonard has nothing to sell.
So if you get lost in the desert some dark night, and don’t like scorpions, or rattlesnakes, or the cold, or the heat, or the loneliness; stop by Leonard’s. He’ll probably say, “thanks for coming by, would you like a blanket and something to drink”?
There should be more Leonard Knights in the world.
Nominated and described by David Zimmerman
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artist / desert / photographer — 1 comment
09
Dec 09
David Zimmerman, photographer. Photographed at the Imperial Sand Dunes, © Tony Gale
David Zimmerman, photographer
David Zimmerman is an amazing photographer. He has won numerous awards, including the 2009 L’iris D’Or, for his work in White Sands. He built a solar powered studio in Taos, NM that gets all its water from rain… in the desert! He is a pilot and built a plane from a kit. He has lived in all four continental US time zones. He is passionate about his personal projects, and on the strength of his photographs, able to get visibility and attention for places that need all the attention they can get. He is basically what I think all photographers want to be.
Nominated and described by Tony Gale
art / music — No comments
18
Nov 09
Meryl Finger © Tony Gale
Meryl Finger, Glamazon
I’ve known Meryl Finger, the creator and mastermind behind the plus size burlesque-pop girl group the Glamazons, for about a decade. She’s a Jewish native New Yorker, she loves leopard print and hot pink,
she married her husband on a reality show, they both work in the Gay community which can make
dating hard…so it’s amazing that they found each other! Meryl is one of those unassuming people who knows everyone,
who’s family members are famous (her cousin is the lead guitarist of the Bravery, her other cousin is the keyboard player
for Fountains of Wayne, and her other cousin is a comedian, and her other cousin is a gay pop star)
Nominated and described by Natalie Ferraro
Theatre / art / playwright — No comments
29
Oct 09
Liza Lentini, Photo by Tony Gale
Liza Lentini
Liza Lentini is a true renaissance woman. Most people know her as an award-winning playwright, having her first professional production in her native Boston when she was just 19 years old. Insistent to follow all of her passions, she’s combined her lifelong apprenticeships in the arts into several prosperous businesses: writing, jewelry making, makeup artistry, photography.
But the cause that is closest to her heart is her charity, started in 2006 by cashing in her pension and diving right in, Elephant Ensemble Theater. A few times a month, Liza and her group of actors travel around New York City children’s hospitals with uplifting performances of plays Liza’s penned herself. Many people talk about dong it, but Liza actually did it. Not just a little bit, not half way, but with the lioness determination she’s earned a reputation for. And one thing that’s as legendary as her theatrical career is her dogged determination to do good work, not just as an artist but also as a human. Now, that’s an artist with a cause!!!!
Nominated and described by Ericka Gutierrez
Theatre / art / artist — No comments
30
Sep 09
Shein Lee. © Tony Gale
Shien Lee
Do not let the façade of pastiche vintage fool you, Shien Lee is not someone living in the past. In fact, she definitely a product of the Twenty-first Century, and her retro sensibilities are a sign of things yet to come. Her style is so unique, a stew of the best of every fashion and period, that the events she calls Dances of Vice have become their own genre. A patron of the arts, she brings together all her favorite people: dancers, singers, painters, illustrators, photographers, musicians, magicians and whomever else she feels will cross pollinate and influence each other to create something old and new, beautiful and monstrous. Using the latest resources to promote her vision, she gleans gems from all eras like a time traveling proprietor of a dime store museum. Impossible to fit into any one category, fans of her work simply call it Dances of Vice. Look to the style of the future and you’ll find Shien Lee.
Nominated and described by Don Spiro
New York / art / artist / brooklyn / costume design — No comments
23
Sep 09
Kate Cusack, photographer in her studio. © Tony Gale
Kate Cusack
There are many beautiful qualities and interesting things I could say about Kate Cusack. One of the aspects of her personality that I find most admirable is her honesty. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, what you see is what you get with Kate. She is who she is and does not waste time pretending to be otherwise. She is more true to herself than anyone I have ever known and I admire her greatly for that. She is driven and focused and believes in herself and her creativity to an impressive degree. As well she should! She has been carving out an impressive career in the Arts from a young age and there’s no sign of her slowing down.
Kate studied fine Art in undergrad and completed her graduate degree in theater, specifically, costume design. Currently she is focusing on her ever-expanding Art jewelry collection, made entirely out of zippers. She has always had a knack for turning humble materials into beautiful works of Art and her zipper jewelry is an amazing example of her talent.
Nominated and described by Margaux Lange
brooklyn / food / fromagier — No comments
09
Sep 09
Amy Baum, photographed at her community garden plot. © Tony Gale
Amy Sisti-Baum
For years Amy was known amongst friends as Cheese Amy. That meant that she worked at Murray’s Cheese Shop and occasionally moonlighted as a guest fromagier at restaurants and conventions. It also meant that she had great taste in cheese and could be counted on to complete any dinner or picnic with the perfect cheeses for the occasion. Recently, Amy has expanded her culinary expertise to include breads and she now works for the Tom Cat Bakery, a wholesaler of delicious baked goods. Amy is also an incredible cook and loves to feed the people she cares about. Lucky for me!
Nominated and described by Tali Shmulovich
art / director / stage — No comments
26
Aug 09
Nelson Eusebio, photo by Tony Gale
Nelson Eusebio
Nelson is an up and coming director on the New York theatre scene. This fall, he directed and co-produced a fantastic and timely collection of short plays about the media circus surrounding Obama. He was once in the Marines. Nelson can appear gruff but he has a smile that melts hearts.
Nominated and described by Deidre Schoo
New York / Upper West Side — 2 comments
19
Aug 09
Yvonne Lynch, photographed on the Upper West Side, © Tony Gale
Yvonne Lynch
Yvonne Lynch is inimitable. And though we each possess several innate qualities forming our uniqueness, Yvonne’s compelling nature is experienced within a group setting. Those curious enough to witness her ability to warm a room, to provoke a smile, to enliven a friend, and on a larger scale, to lift everyone’s temperaments– like keeping time to an orchestral melody– will find their own mood’s harmonize with her own. She is productive, light-hearted, and funny. She’s talented, yes. Worldly and versatile, of course. She is many things to many people. Yet, I call her my friend. Maybe you’ll meet her; then you can do likewise.
Nominated and described by Tai Odunsi