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Liz Hickok’s “Jelly NYC,” a 3-D replica of the Financial District and Lady Liberty, is just one of a series of unconventional cartographies on display at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery’s fall exhibit, “You Are Here: Mapping the Psychogeography of New York City.”

The collection, which also includes a chart of Craig’s List “missed connections” sites, a map of Manhattan bodegas, and an active bee honeycomb shaped in the form of the five boroughs, was brought together by Seattle-based guest curator Katharine Harmon.

See slideshow at DNAinfo.com

Harmon, author of two books exploring map-making as a form of art and personal expression, said her goal in selecting the featured artists was to convey “a mix of emotions that the city evokes” — including anxiety, isolation and nostalgia.

In the case of “Jelly NYC,” Hickok attempted to depict some of the contradictory feelings experienced by longtime New Yorkers and tourists alike.

“It’s that glow of the city, the allure of the city as you approach it,” Harmon said of the model’s brightly colored visage. But stand too close, bounce around a bit, and the whole structure shakes before you, reflecting the vulnerability of the city and its institutions, which “may not be as solid as we think.”

While most of the maps were produced originally for the Pratt exhibit, a few predate it. Pakistani-born Asma Ahmed Shikoh created her Urdu language New York subway map as a response to tensions following 9/11. Maira Kalman and Rick Meyerowitz’s “NewYorkistan,” also from 2001, gained fame as the image on the top selling New Yorker magazine cover of all time.

For Harmon, the interest in creative cartography, which began to grow in popularity in the 1960s with the interpretive U.S. maps of Jasper Johns, stems from a desire to explore the changing ways in which people seek a sense of belonging.

“Particularly in these times, we’re just trying to orient ourselves in an increasingly complex and overwhelming world,” Harmon said. The need to place oneself on a map is simply “a way of grappling with that notion of being lost and found.”

“You Are Here: Mapping the Psychogeography of New York” will run through Nov. 6 at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery at 144 W. 14th St., 2nd Floor.

Artist credits:
1.”Loneliness Map” by artist Ingrid Burrington (Amy Aronoff/Pratt Manhattan)
2. “Jelly NYC” by artist Liz Hickok (Amy Aronoff/Pratt Manhattan)

This is a great cause and I urge you to please go to this if you can.  Check out the video from last year’s red carpet!

Tickets here: https://www.hmi.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=257

The Emery Awards, held annually, honor those individuals and corporations who exemplify Hetrick-Martin’s mission of providing a safe and supportive environment for all young people – regardless of their sexual orientation or identity as well as those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership within our community.

Hosted by: Wendy Williams

Honorees: Arianna Huffington, Ryan Murphy (Creator of Glee) and Marc Ecko

Auction Host: Bethenny Frankel

Unconfirmed Special Appearances by: Cheyenne Jackson, Mary-Louise Parker, Robert Verdi, Heather Matarazzo, B.D. Wong and Andy Bell

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John D.
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Bill T.

The British rock god released a statement saying he was “disgusted” by a Kansas-based church’s choice to play his music on the steps of the United States Supreme Court today.

“I am sickened and disgusted by the use of ‘Crazy Train’ to promote messages of hate and evil by a ‘church,’” said Ozzy, referring to the iconic song off 1980′s Blizzard of Ozz.

And lest you think he was peeved about the organist playing Randy Rhoades‘ riff in the choir loft, read on…

The church in question is Westboro Baptist Church, a group known less for its choir than for its noisy, anti-gay protests staged at the funerals of U.S. soldiers, regardless of the fallen’s sexual orientation.

The small congregation, which chants things like “You’re Going to Hell” and other feel-bad sentiments because it somehow associates dead soldiers with homosexuality in general, has garnered more attention now that their activities have turned into a free speech debate.

The father of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, whose funeral attracted Westboro protesters, was awarded $5 million after suing the group and its founder Fred Phelps for emotional distress. The church appealed the ruling and the case is now going to be reviewed by the Supreme Court.

Which is where two of Phelps’ adult daughters quoted Ozzy in song, singing, “You’re going straight to hell on your crazy train.” They looked pretty pleased with themselves for thinking that one up, too.

Maybe something from Ozzy’s Diary of a Mad Man would have been more appropriate.

I am sharing my story let anyone out there know –you are not alone. There have been a horrific amount of teenage suicides due to bullying. It just breaks my heart to know what those family members are feeling. No one should ever get to a point where they feel entirely helpless. I want to say to anyone out there feeling that way, take it as a learning experience to educate others.

I grew up in suburban New Jersey in the nineties, where having the most bling car, having a varsity jacket, and whom you were dating, were all was key. Granted, at the time, I don’t think I knew I was gay. Like everybody, I was trying to find myself, though I didn’t realize at the time it was take me until two years ago (in my late twenties) to be really proud of who I am. It’s great to say, “Be different, Fuck them if they don’t approve,” but try saying that to someone who’s in a town in the middle of nowhere. So for those kids, this is for you.

Never in my dreams, did I think I would be sharing my story in hopes of helping even one (young) person. In high school, though we had an amazing music teacher who was gay, there was still a huge sense of disapproval for being gay to talking about it. If you were gay, you certainly couldn’t be open about it without facing ridicule. If I had a chance to go back and relive my high school years, I never would. In the gym locker room, a sigh of relief would come over me when I realized I wasn’t the one being made fun of for being girly, or being told I speak weird. . I was happy I knew the “popular” crowd. I would see students helpless against the typical jocks, who would verbally abuse and one time threw another student (with their clothes on) into the shower. Helpless and relived is what I felt. Relieved it wasn’t me.

These images still come vividly to me. I know a few friends of mine who went through this experience and have told me. “Why stand up for gay rights? No one was there to help me!” As an educator, someone part of the media, and a human, this is a matter of civil rights.

My last year of high school, I did the ever-popular “I-am’bi” which transitioned to “I’m gay” by the time college hit. I had an amazing boyfriend (he went nice and slow knowing it was my first gay relationship), and two more long-lasting relationships after that.

I have been fortunate to not had many circumstances where I have had to tolerant discrimination. Among them at Hershey Park on Father’s Day when a father with his son(??!!) told my ex-boyfriend he has a man purse and verbal abused us for 20 minutes. While there was tension, no one stood up to him. I was in a state of shock. Everything was in slow motion. I regret feeling so helpless and not doing anything. This is one of the moment I wish I could go back and change. One of my ex-students (ten years old) found my old Facebook and told me being gay made me “low” and a few other negative choice comments. Each of these memories will always stick with me. Because these is why we need to stop the hate. Period.

Being a teacher, it’s our job to really mold these children. The bullying I have seen starts at a very young age and continues. Schools NEED to really have no-bullying tolerance. Believe it or not, these children will remember that horrible experience and carry it with them, right along with the positive ones. I truly believe people are afraid of what they don’t know. It’s our job to dispel the stereotypes and educated families and communities about being gay. It’s taken years for African Americans to have justice and I expect it will be a long but worthy road for us.

After really exploring who I was in college, I left as a teacher. As an elementary school teacher (and a gay one at that!) forget being out. Mix that in with my deeply religious family and I virtually stayed in the closet for three more years. My boyfriends were known as my “friends” to my family and my mother at one point told me being gay “was a phase”. To her credit, she meant well –waiting twenty years before adopting me and she’s the most loving lady –but it’s something her generation never talked about: sexuality. Ito her and many in her generation, it’s hard to look at it as a lifestyle. It’s more than whom you share a bed with. I was one of the first gay people a friend’s family knew in college. To them, this is not how a gay person acted/looked. It opened their eyes to look past the generic stereotypes.

I was financially secure, and in the closet at school (no talk of my weekends, my personal life). Some of my friends didn’t now what they wanted to do with their lives, but no, I knew it all. That changed. Two years ago, I was let go from my teaching job. I believe through fate, I wound up trying a new gig: hosting and taking photography at high-profile media events. Through this, I saw my wings open up to who I really was. It really allowed me to not be afraid to talk about who I was or what I wanted to do. I also realized what an impact the media has. I try to cover many LGBTQ events as I can. It’s so important for young people to see what is going on in our community and want to be part in activism. I had a chance to interview Cynthia Nixon, and Joy Behar (among) others, at the GLAAD Media Awards. To have these important people give up their time and share their stories means a lot. We should all be sharing our stories.

Ultimately down the line, I would to set up an anti-bullying workshop that would go to school (ALL ages levels) and educate teachers and students about being gay. As a teacher, I didn’t feel comfortable coming out, so for any teachers as well, this could be a turning point. I would want to program to work with guidance counselors and social workers to keep of lines of communication open. This is a problem that doesn’t go away from one assembly. I also want to set up a website which archives our history: Stonewall, LGBTQ marches, hate crimes, memorials to those affected by hate crimes and education. It would have literature and also videos. It should be a place where anyone in the world can come to view material and learn. The more positive media exposure, the more people understand our struggle, the more allies we shall have.

To my young friends out there: I feel your pain every day. To those shedding a tear, afraid to raise their hand at school, talk about the cute girl/guy they met, there are others like us out there –closer than you think. My heart goes out to anyone that had or will be subjected to any sort of hate crime. Stay strong and use your experience to build a better tomorrow. Know there are people out there who love you very much. Also, you are growing up in a great time of technology. More stories about gay people influencing the media positively are coming out each day. Look to those people and know people like me are trying to use their voice so you don’t have to endure intolerance. Just know our community is so strong and these new wave of suicides because of gay bullying has been a wake up call. We need to not preach to the LGBTQ community. We should be out there with people don’t understand us, changing their mind. Look around at school, at work, in your town, someone there is gay. If you don’t know there, they are there. Our generation and the ones after will be the ones to make a differences. It has been pointed out in general, that generation now are more accepting than older generations, because we grew up in a time where it is ok to express who you are.

My favorite quote is one that touches me everything I hear it. It is by someone I look up to greatly, Academy-award winner Dustin Lance Black during his Oscar acceptance speech for the film, “Milk”:

When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life, it gave me the hope to one day live my life openly as who I am and that maybe even I could fall in love and one day get married..But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches or by the government or by their families that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours.”

Measure in love

Neal B

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For more information:
http://www.bornforbroadway.com/.

Special Thanks to: Elisa S. and Sarah H.

Kathie Lee Gifford hosts the second annual Born for Broadway concert — to benefit the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation — Oct. 4 at 8 PM at New World Stages.

Ragtime Tony nominee Marcia Milgrom Dodge directs the evening, which features musical direction by Larry Yurman.

The evening boasts performances by “Glee” star Jenna Ushkowitz as well as Adrian Bailey, Jim Brochu, Brandi Burkhardt, Ben Cook, Christopher Cox, Quentin Earl Darrington, Malcolm Gets, Josh Grisetti, Leigh Ann Larkin, Lesley Gore, Chad Kimball, Carole Lasser, Jamie Laverdiere, Eliza Hayes Mayer, Jeff McLean, Kathleen Monteleone, Christiane Noll, Orfeh, Robert Petkoff, Chris Pinnella, Sarah Rosenthal, Kaylie Rubinaccio, Bobby Steggert, Ali Stroker, John Tartaglia, Jenna Ushkowitz, Josh Walden, Noah Weisberg,

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is dedicated to “curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research, and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information and advocacy.” For more information visit website at www.ChristopherReeve.org.