Grit and Glamour is the latest in the Archives’ long-running calendar series. Since 1979 it has produced an annual calendar on a topic drawing from its collections chronicling New York City history. This is the fourth consecutive calendar featuring the LGBTQ+ community and is based on its LGBTQ+ Collection. The previous three calendars focused on the history of LGBTQ Life in the City, Performing Arts, and Visual Arts.
“The LaGuardia and Wagner Archives is distinctive to LaGuardia—no other college in New York City has something similar. It is a valuable resource for our students, faculty, staff, and outside researchers, and does important work illuminating our city’s history and educating tomorrow’s historians,” said LaGuardia Community College President Kenneth Adams. “I am especially proud to display the 2022 calendar as it showcases the filmmaking expertise of graduates and faculty members from LaGuardia and across CUNY.”
Graduates and faculty featured in Grit and Glamour include LaGuardia professor Jason Schafer who wrote the award-winning screenplay for Trick (see October). Two LaGuardia graduates, director Flavio Alves and actor Carlie Guevara, are featured for their work on The Garden Left Behind (see December). And Yoruba Richen, founding director of the documentary program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, is featured as a trailblazer in LGBTQ+ film. Richen, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, spoke at the calendar e-launch party [vimeo.com] held earlier this month.
“When we began producing an annual calendar over four decades ago, it was a way to bring New York City history into people’s homes and workplaces,” said Archives Director Dr. Richard Lieberman. “Now it’s become a reflection on significant social and cultural happenings of the present day, looking back on how we’ve gotten to where we are. New York’s LGBTQ+ community is an integral part of our great city. The series of calendars—2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022—illuminates how the LGBTQ+ community has employed film and other forms of visual and performing arts to advance greater acceptance and legal protection for their community. There is much to learn from their stories.”
