The original art “Marriage For All” was created by my lifetime partner Andrew Reach of 31 years originally for the National Equality March on Washington DC in 2009. It inspired me and has allowed me to relax and create this film of us and of all the other faces through time that were willing to be captured. The world is a crazy place and many took chances allowing them to be photographed. We honor all the LGBT people who came before us for their bravery and honesty. I’m allowing myself to be brave for all the young people, that perhaps by seeing these images it will keep them going forward so they can have freer lives.
Andrew and I are honored and humbled that his artwork March of Humanity was selected for this very special art exhibition traveling around the country. The juried competition from entries around the country features 103 works by 75 artists; the art by soldiers, military personnel, surgeons and and even civilians like him who have been inspired by the brave fight our wounded veterans battle everyday. March of Humanity
Dr. Matthew Jimenez knows about the fog of war and how families may never learn how a loved one actually died. So he wondered about a dead soldier’s boots. “They would know,” he said. “What story would they tell if they could talk?”….. It reminds us how war can inspire artists, whatever their medium.read more
James Warren writes for the Chicago News Cooperative, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization providing local coverage of Chicago and the surrounding area for The New York Times.
This special exhibit is sponsored by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. This is Andrew’s second exhibit with the organization. His first with the AAOS was the titled “eMotion Pictures” and commemorated the 75th anniversary of the organization. A statement from the eMotion Pictures website says:
“2008 marks the 75th Anniversary of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). eMotion Pictures: An Exhibition of Orthopaedics in Art celebrates the caring and compassion orthopaedic surgeons have for their patients and the tremendous impact they have on the quality of life of every patient they see. It celebrates healing, independence, and struggle.” read more
The show featured 200 works from 152 artists from 1200 entries from 17 countries. Andrew had two works in the show and with one of them being featured in The AAOS’s 75th anniversary calender for the month of January 2009.
I knew nothing about my grandfather’s life before he came to America. All he ever said was that he was from Belgium. I now know that my family lived in Warsaw Poland as far back at this point to 1740. To be able to say all there names and who they were is beyond any thing.
I had begun this journey just over one year ago. I started a blog, and just began. To date over 126,111 people have come to see it all. I am very humble. I had begun this, for I was in great despair .
I am a quiet man living a life mostly in the house. Due to my partner’s health and my health we do not get out much, we have been together now 31 years. Our days are filled with lots of pain. Andrew is very ill with two differant diseases Each one moving forward never leaving us in there inch toward trying to take him. I am often alone in the house due to large blocks of time when Andrew is resting; escaping the pain. So all of this has come to me.
Our house is a large old Victorian three blocks from Lake Erie in Cleveland Ohio. Our area is right out of downtown called the Gordon Art Square District in one of the oldest parts of town here. On one of those days I was walking around through the house and got to the main second hall way on the second floor. I stopped at the two photos of my great grand parents. I knew nothing about them except that I was named after my great grand mother Beile ( Bella) and my great Uncle Samuel. I did not know where they were buried or what happened to them. I had been crying thinking of my dear mother and brothers.
I could no longer take all the pain. Sixty years is enough to be the one that is always on the outside. To be a victim is hard enough but to allow it, all in the hopes that I would be loved just for myself and who I am was more than I could take any longer. We all have a voice. My family would just let me go. For I would not let them tell me my truth or the truth that they felt I was not seeing from their point of view. So in my hallway, at that moment I realized with all that I believe that I would not meet them when I leave this earth. The shock of that was almost too much for me. I broke down in that hallway and prayed to keep my faith. And then it came to me.
As I look at the photos of my great grand parents, I knew that I would see them. I would meet all the people that had come before me. And so the journey began. Through my blog two angels came to me and they found my great grandparents graves. I have found things out that I could have never seen. I am now putting together a little film on their times and places. Who were they? How did they live? I am very close now to all these souls.
Most of the Baumwoll men as far back to 1760 lived in Warsaw . Abram Baumwoll is my 4th great grand father, born in 1770. They lived in Warsaw with his wife Esther and their children, their first son Zelik and my 3rd great grandfather Josef born in 1794. The census of 1764 counted 2519 people, and that of 1778 testified to the presence of 3512 Jews residing mostly in the jurydykas little towns right out of the city. They constituted about 6 per cent of the entire population of Warsaw, and came from more than 200 localities all over the Polish Commonwealth. All the time, Jews strove to obtain the right to settle freely in Warsaw. Their actions gained impetus in the second half of the 18th c., and, in particular, during the “Four-Year Diet” (1788-1792) sessions.They change laws for the families that were born there before 1798. Those jewish families could live within the city limits.
My family was able to live in the city of Warsaw at the time. For they had been born their before 1798 . Jews that lived outside the city were given day passes to come in. I have also found out that I had a great-great-great-great-great grandfather who was a Rabbi there also was a cantor which makes total sense to me for both my father and I were singers . There are so many lives that have come forth. I have come to see that life is a circle . I am a man that can not live with out his family. I am will try and find a way to have them in my life.There is always Hope and Faith. I can feel all the souls around me filled with joy for there is nothing more inportant then famliy and love .
Andrew was introduced to Scott Ligon through Max Eternity, founder of Art Digital Magazine. Max Eternity is a mentor to Andrew. Max is also a contributing writer to the Huffington Post Arts.
His blog says, “Scott Ligon is a digital artist and filmmaker. His work is frequently exhibited and has won several awards. Three years ago he relocated from his native Virginia to Cleveland, Ohio, in order to accept a job as the coordinator for the digital foundation curriculum at the Cleveland Institute of Art.”
Andrew is being assisted by the non-profit organization Leap through the Ohio Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation to help him further his art career as well as providing assistive technology to make it easier to work on his art. In the city of Cleveland, Andrew was selected for this special program along with 12 other severely disabled individuals. Leap’s Sheryl Whalen and Christine Henry brought in Scott Ligon to visit Andrew at home for his advice and expertise.
Marriage For All, 2009 by Andrew Reach
