Author: andres@davidperry.com

$2.1 Million Is Early Valentine for AIDS / HIV Related Charities in San Francisco, Sonoma County, Palm Springs and Philadelphia

Media Contact: David Perry
415.676.7007
news@davidperry.com

10 February 2014 — San Francisco, CA: In a gathering today at San Francisco’s historic Flood Building, $2.1 million dollars from the Thomas M. Dross Estate was officially distributed to the following charities: AIDS Emergency Fund, AIDS Interfaith Chapel at Grace Cathedral, Clinica Esperanza, Desert AIDS Project (Palm Springs), FamilyLink, Food for Thought (Sonoma), Mazzoni LGBT Center (Philadelphia), Openhouse, Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation, SF AIDS Foundation, San Francisco LGBT Aging Policy Task Force Outreach Report.

“This is one of the largest private donations to AIDS / HIV charities in the past decade,” said Alfredo Casuso and David Perry, coexecutors of the Dross Estate. “AIDS is not over. Our hope is that the size of this donation will refocus people’s attention on the work of these fine efforts — and others — in the fight against AIDS / HIV. As we approach Valentine’s Day, we want people to remember and show love to their local AIDS service organizations and those living with AIDS / HIV.”

Thomas M. Dross died of a heart attack on January 7, 2012 in Palm Springs. His will specified AIDS / HIV charities as the beneficiary of his estate.

MEDIA ADVISORY / COVERAGE REQUEST: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10 – 3PM

Media Contact: David Perry
415.676.7007
news@davidperry.com

WHO: The Estate of Thomas M. Dross
WHAT: Donates $ 2.1 Million Dollars to AIDS Related Charities

One of largest individual gifts to AIDS / HIV Causes Marked with “Big Check” photo opp and representatives from following charities:

AIDS Emergency Fund
AIDS Interfaith Chapel at Grace Cathedral
Clinica Esperanza
Desert AIDS Project (Palm Springs)
FamilyLink
Food for Thought (Sonoma)
Mazzoni LGBT Center
Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation
SF AIDS Foundation
San Francisco LGBT Aging Policy Task Force Outreach Report

WHEN: Monday, February 10 – 3pm
WHERE: The Flood Building Lobby / 870 Market Street (at Powell)
WHY: It’s a perfect Valentine’s Day gift for 10 AIDS related charities: over $2.1 million in donations from the estate of Thomas M. Dross (July 21, 1940 – January 7, 2012).

“Tom was a quiet and generous man, and we want his generosity to be remembered,” said Alfredo Casuso & David Perry, co-executors of the Dross Estate. “The fight against AIDS / HIV continues, and because of Tom’s generosity, the fight will continue. What better way than to spread a legacy of love and hope this Valentine’s Day than this, especially among those places that Tom called home at different times in his life.”

The charities sharing in the largesse are: The AIDS Emergency Fund, the AIDS Interfaith Chapel at Grace Cathedral, Clinica Esperanza, FamilyLink, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the San Francisco LGBT Aging Policy Task Force Outreach Report, the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation (all of San Francisco), the Desert AIDS Project (Palm Springs), Food for Thought (Sonoma County) and the Mazzoni LGBT Health & Wellness Center (Philadelphia).

Thomas M. Dross died following a sudden heart attack on January 7, 2012. He was 71 years old. Originally from Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, Dross moved to San Francisco in the 1970s where he became a well-known advertising and marketing professional, working for such prestigious firms as Pritikin & Associates. Later, he was the founder and owner of one of San Francisco’s most popular financial district restaurants, “Upstairs, Downstairs.” He attended Widner College in Chester Pennsylvania and received his degree from the University of Pennsylvania. As a youth, He went to St. Mary’s Parochial school, St. Matthew’s High School and was a member of St. Mary’s Church all in Conshohocken. Shortly following his death, receptions in his honor were held in both San Francisco and Palm Springs. His ashes were scattered on San Jacinto Mountain overlooking the desert.

“Lucas Cultural Arts Museum To Explore Alternative Sites”

Media Contact: David Perry / david.perry@skywalkerranch.com / (415) 746-5057

3 February 2014 – San Francisco, CA: In light of today’s announcement by the Presidio Trust, the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum’s executive team is considering alternative sites.

In May 2002, the Presidio Trust Master Plan was adopted. The Crissy Field commissary was identified by the Trust as a desired site for a cultural institution. The Lucas Cultural Arts Museum first presented its plans for a museum on the commissary site in 2010 and has been working with the Trust over the last four years to come up with a mutually acceptable plan for the site to no avail. Lucas said that his team has begun exploring several other offers that have been presented to them.

“I want to thank all the people, especially educators and young people, who have written in to voice their support for the cultural arts museum,” said George Lucas. “I also want to thank everyone, staff, volunteers and community leaders, who have worked so hard to try to bring this educational opportunity to the Bay Area.”

Conceived by George Lucas, the museum is based in the filmmaker’s passion for education and the role art can play in inspiring young people. The museum will offer state-of-the-art facilities and unparalleled programming for children, families, schools, scholars, and visiting artists. The 10,000 piece permanent collection ranges from fine art to animation, from fashion to cinematic design and is comprised of works of the great masters of the Golden Age of Illustration through today’s digital artists, showing the ways culture is reflected in the popular arts of any given time period. In addition to the permanent collect, the museum will feature works and traveling exhibits from many collections and institutions from around the world.

Media Preview for “Beth Van Hoesen: Portraits from the Castro,
An Exhibition to Benefit the Rainbow Honor Walk” and Meet the Designer of the Rainbow Honor Walk

WHERE: George Krevsky Gallery 77 Geary (at Grant), 2nd Floor, San Francisco

WHO:
Carlos Casuso, Madrid, Spain—Architect and Designer of the Rainbow Honor Walk Plaques
David Perry, Board President, Rainbow Honor Walk
George Krevsky, George Krevsky Gallery

WHEN: Saturday, January 4, 2014, 2pm to 3pm
Exhibition Dates: January 3 – March 1, 2014

WEB:
www.georgekrevskygallery.com
www.rainbowhonorwalk.org

WHY:

The Rainbow Honor Walk (www.rainbowhonorwalk.org) will honor 20 historic LGBT figures in 2014 with bronze plaques to be installed along Castro Street, designed by Spanish architect Carlos Casuso, who won an international competition for his design for the plaques, which feature a portrait and brief information about each of the first 20 honorees. To raise funds for the fabrication and installation of the plques, the Rainbow Honor Walk has joined with George Krevsky Gallery to present a benefit exhibition of artworks by Beth Van Hoesen, the late Castro district resident and nationally recognized artist. Beth Van Hoesen: Portraits from the Castro, on view at George Krevsky Gallery from January 3 through March 1, 2014, features more than 20 original works donated by the E. Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen Adams Trust to benefit the construction of San Francisco’s newest public monument. The artworks include watercolors, drawings, and prints from the 1990s that depict colorful personalities that Van Hoesen encountered in her neighborhood, including well-known figures in the LGBT community. Beth Van Hoesen: Portraits from the Castro, An Exhibition to Benefit the Rainbow Honor Walk is free and open to the public at George Krevsky Gallery, 77 Geary (at Grant), Suite 205, in the Union Square District of downtown San Francisco. Gallery hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11am–5:30pm. On Thursday evening, January 9th and February 4th, the Gallery will be open for the First Thursday Gallery Walk, 5:30pm to 7:30pm. The works are also available for online viewing at www.georgekrevskygallery.com www.rainbowhonorwalk.org

For more than forty years, Beth Van Hoesen (1926-2010) and her husband, artist and designer Mark Adams (1925-2006), lived in an old firehouse on 22nd Street at the top of the Castro Street hill, where they maintained their studios. For many years, Van Hoesen and Adams hosted weekly figure- and portrait-drawing sessions, joined by prominent Bay Area artists Robert Bechtle, William Theophilus Brown, Gordon Cook, Wayne Thiebaud, and others.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, Van Hoesen became particularly fascinated with people she saw in her neighborhood, occasionally inviting them to pose for her at the firehouse. Many of these artworks from Van Hoesen’s sessions with her Castro neighbors have not previously been exhibited or available. The drawings, watercolors, and color etchings of Castro personalities range from leather-clad, dyed, and tattooed punks and queers, to well-known figures such as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the late Jose Sarria, known as The Widow Norton. Thanks to this generous gift from the artist’s estate these portraits are now available to benefit the Rainbow Honor Walk. # # #

The Rt. Rev. Otis Charles of San Francisco Dies

April 24, 1926 – December 26, 2013
Was first openly gay bishop of any Christian denomination

29 December 2013 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA: The Rt. Rev. Otis Charles, born April 24, 1926 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, died peacefully on December 26, 2013 at San Francisco’s Coming Home Hospice following a brief illness. Charles was with family at his bedside at the time of his death.

Charles was the eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah. Soon after his retirement in 1993 he came out as an openly gay man, making him the first openly gay bishop of any Christian denomination in history. Soon after he and his wife divorced. He relocated to San Francisco, where he helped to found Oasis California, the LGBT Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of California. which seeks to open dialogue between LGBT communities and the congregations in which they worship.

Originally from New Jersey, he served first as a priest in Washington, Connecticut. From 1968 until 1982 he was a member of the Standing Liturgical Commission of the Episcopal Church, which developed the 1979 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. In 1971, he was elected Bishop of Utah. He was active in the peace movement, and opposed Nevada and Utah being launching sites for the MX missile. In the House of Bishops, Charles was chair of the Prayer Book Committee and a member of the Bishops’ Committee on Racism. Charles became Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in 1985. Charles also has significant academic achievements, including a Doctorate of Divinity, and a Doctorate of Sacred Theology.

Following his coming out, Charles retained his voting seat in the 300-plus member House of Bishops. Before and following his announcement, he was an active and forceful advocate on behalf of LGBT communities. In 1979, Charles was one of 17 dissenting bishops when the Episcopal Church’s General Convention stated that practicing homosexual clergy were prohibited from ordination – a decision that continues to generate controversy to this day. In 1999, Charles was arrested and led away in handcuffs for his civil disobedience at the Church’s General Convention in Denver, Colorado during a protest against what demonstrators described as the Church’s long history of oppression against lesbian and gay peoples.

Charles married Dr. Felipe Sanchez-Paris on September 29, 2008. Sanchez-Paris died on July 31 of this year. The two appear in the documentary film Love Free or Die, testifying about a resolution directing the Episcopal Church to create a provisional rite for the blessing of same-gender relationships at its General Convention in Anaheim, California, in 2009.

Charles is survived by his first spouse, five children, 10 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, four children of Sanchez-Paris and his San Francisco family.

A memorial service and celebration of the life of Otis Charles will be held at on Saturday, January 11, 2pm at San Francisco’s St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church (500 De Haro Street).