This is a super surreal and amazing honor.

 

During Rochester (NY) Fringe Festival this year, I was selected as a Local Unsung Hero and my image was turned into a living monument for the entire length of the Festival.

 

How this came about – During 2023, I was contacted by a representative of the Fringe Festival and told that I had been nominated and selected as a local unsung hero. I had no idea I had been nominated!  They asked me to come down to the Fringe location to meet the artist and have my recording made. Which I happily did. I was selected for the 2024 honor, but the artist was only in Rochester in 2023 so the images needed to be captured.

 

From The Festival: About The Installation – What does it mean to honor someone with a monument…and who shoudl be honored in such a public way? Renowned Australian artist Craig Walsh returns with one answer to this question, challenging us to select three people from our community who deserve to be recognized – but who may never rise to public consciousness without his unique method of celebrating them. Walsh projects the living, moving faces of these three Rochesterians on tall trees, where wind and other elements give them dimension and animate them even further. This installation was a finalist for CITY’s “Best of Rochester Awards” for the first installment in 2023. Craig Walsh, MONUMENTS leads us to reconsider the place the monuments hold in our communities and our lives.

 

What The Board In Front Of My Tree Read

Craig Walsh

Monuments

2024 Honoree

Rochester Area Unsung Hero

Kristin “Kat” Sweeney

Leader and Advocate for the LGBTQ+ Community

“Nothing motivates Kat Sweeney like an opportunity to stand up for the rights of the Rochester LGBTQ+ community. WAYO 104.3 FM listeners know her involvement in the Rainbow Roc show, where she amplifies LGBTQ+ voices and narratives, but her contributions to the community go far beyond this. She co-founded the Rochester LGBTQ+ Together Group, and has been an instrumental force in the development, administration, and expansion of numerous LGBTQ+ outreach programs for more than a decade. Most recently, she serves as secretary for We Exist Finger Lakes, a new nonprofit for amplifying transgender voices. Kat has confronted oppression boldly right here in our community, dismantling institutional discrimination involving gender identity, sexual orientation, race, disability, marital status, and health status. Kat has even confronted discrimination in her own front yard, as neighbors took issue with her displaying a rainbow flag. Rather than faltering, she demonstrated extraordinary resilience and established “Kat’s Big Gay Yard,” a vibrant display of LGBTQ+ Pride that transformed her yard into a local beacon of inclusivity. Kat’s influence on the Rochester LGBTQ+ Community is immeasureable, exemplifying the potential for positive change when met with unwavering determination and a commitment to embracing diversity.”

 

Special Thanks – In addition to thanking Rochester Fringe Festival and Craig Walsh, I’d like to send a special thank you to my friend Ian for honoring me with such a nomination. I’d also like to thank my the Rainbow Roc team, the We Exist Board Members, my partners, my family, and my tried and true friends who have always believed in me. I wouldn’t be who I am without you.