Hall Of Fame
My company Art From The Heart Films
was inducted into the Queens, NY Business Hall Of Fame six years in a row.
2015 until 2021
Best Of 2018 Queens, NY Gay & Lesbian Organization Award
for my company Art From The Heart Films
Induction into
LGBT Hall Of Fame
December 8th, 2015
Hi Wolfgang,
I am happy to share with you that our Membership Board has unanimously approved you as a new Honoree in the GLBT Hall Of Fame! My apologies it took so long. A few of our board members were ill and just needed some extra time. If you would like to be a part of the Induction program let me know. It is an online induction and would be a telephone recorded interview. The Induction program will be on December 17, 2015 at 8pm central time. So we would do the interview, if you want to participate, in October / November. I hope you will participate as it adds so much to your induction and the program overall. However, you are not required to participate.Congratulations and a huge thank you for all you do for our community!
All the best,
Len
StoneWall Society / OutVoice
Rainbow World Radio / GLBT Hall Of Fame
Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award
"Keep The Dream Alive"
For his activism for the LGBT Ballroom Community
I am dedicating this award to my sisters and brothers we lost to the AIDS epidemic
and to those who continue to fight for justice and empowerment.
I share this award with my mentors Kevin Omni from the Harlem Ballroom community,
Darryl Montgomery and Charles Gilmore. Together we "Keep The Dream Alive".
Wolfgang Busch
Biography Highlights about the Black Community in Germany and the United States , from 1980 to present.
Wolfgang was born on November 6th, 1955 in Heppenheim , Germany United
States in 1981 at the age of 26, to pursue a
career in the entertainment field. His dream was to run a record company.
Wolfgang is best known
in the Black community for:
1) The
documentary “How Do I Look”, about the Harlem House Ball community. It premiered
at the New Fest Film Festival in New York City in
2006 and was screened at many film festivals across the country and
internationally in Berlin , Lisbon ,
Amsterdam and London .
2) University
students use the documentary “How Do I Look” for theses and education.
3) Community
based organizations use the documentary “How Do I Look” for outreach and
education.
4) His
activism to fight for empowerment and justice for the Harlem House Ball
community.
5) Member
of the House of Omni.
6) Ballroom
historian, lecturer and educator.
7) Producer
of the First International Ballroom Convention.
8) James
Saunders, founder of Black Pride NYC and JS Promotions.
9) Mike
Stone Promotions.
10) Working with Tony Award winner Melba Moore and
Meli’sa Morgan on his second documentary “Flow Affair”.
11) The Harlem
Arts Council, Greg Mills.
12) S6k communication, Darryl Hell.
13) The Black Rock Coalition, Jared Nickerson.
14) Booking the first RAP artist and Dance artists
at the Limelight disco.
Awards and Rewards Highlights
Humanitarian Award
for his first documentary “How Do I Look”, received from the Diaspora Film
Festival in Berlin , Germany
Pill Award, New York City :
Best documentary, “How Do I Look”.
Icon Award
Our Youth in New
Jersey
Ballroom Awards and Honors
House of Omni, House of Khan, House of Ebony, House of
Legend and House of Ninja.
Ballroom Historian
and Educator:
Screenings with lectures at many prestigious universities
and colleges:
Community Based Organizations:
Hetrick-Martin Institute, St. John’s
in the Village Church ,
Exponents, Green Chimney, Safe Space, The Door, LGBT Community Centers
Founder
The House Ball
Historic and Cultural Institute, ballroom empowerment and education.
First International
Ballroom Convention, ballroom history and culture.
Floguing Dance,
Flagging + Voguing = Floguing, bringing together the two dance forms that
originated in the gay community, voguing from Harlem and the ballroom community
and flagging from the leather community in the west village. The Floguing Dance
can be seen in his second documentary “Flow Affair”.
Wolfgang’s Mentors
Darryl Hell for teaching me Black History and Artistic
Progressions.
Kevin Omni for teaching me Black Gay History and Ballroom.
Reverent Charles Gilmore for giving me Life Counseling and Support.
Mike Stone for teaching me Gay Black Club History.
Ballroom Background
information:
My first Ball experience was at the Traxx night club on 19th street
in Manhattan in
1987, the House of Xtravaganza was giving a Ball. Not knowing what it was, I
was very much mesmerized by it. I remember I was thinking that I would love to
work with this community one day. Little did I know that my dream would come
true 2 years later after meeting Kevin Omni at a Promoters League meeting in
1989. In 1995, I started working with the House of Omni on the first video project.
Kevin Ultra Omni introduced me to the many Icons, Historians and Legends from
the ballroom community who asked me to produce and direct the “How Do I Look”
documentary and the rest is history.
General Background
Information:
At the age of 25, I was a Rock DJ and a sound engineer for a
German top 40 band “Crypton”. I was also the contract negotiator and translator
between the German band and the American Black lead singer Michelle Wilson from
Boston . I have
represented members from the Black community for over 30 years going back when
I was still living in Germany .
During the 1970’s, there was also a strong African American
military presents in Germany ,
because of the “Cold War” with Russia .
I was introduced to the straight black military community through my lady
school friends who were socializing at the disco “Tenne”, about 3 miles from my
hometown. The “Tenne” disco was run by Black Americans in the military and drew
over 350 black people on the week ends from across the country. I was the only “white
boy” in a disco in Germany ,
which was quite an amazing experience from any perspective. I was introduced to
R&B and black dance music and learned the Line- Soul- Hustle- and the Bump
dance and I learned how to feel the soul of the music at the age of 22. I made
many friends and brought them to my hometown in Heppenheim and introduced them
to my parents, soccer team and friends. I learned to speak better English and learned
about the American culture and traditions. In return I taught them about the
German culture, food, wine, beer and language. I always felt I was contributing
to the German - American Friendship Exchange Program, because I was so involved.
In 1982, I moved to the United
States , Newport News in Virginia . After the band
I was working for as a sound engineer broke up in Lexington
Ohio in 1983, I moved to Bayside, Queens to my great Aunt with $20 in my pocket. I have a
degree in Dental Technician and within 2 weeks I was working in Manhattan .
My activism started in 1983, while I was still touring with
a band in the south. We had a black bass player, Frank. As it turned out, he
was the reason why we couldn’t get better paying gigs in the south of the United States ,
because he was black. This experience is always with me, because when touring
with the German band, we were always treated as royalties, including Michelle
Wilson. I also have great memories while touring and being out gay in Germany .
From 1984 to 1987, I was volunteering at the Musicians
Union, Local 802 in Manhattan ,
running the Rock R&B committee and its 1,200 members, producing workshops,
seminars and showcases for local rock and dance bands. Again I experienced
discrimination towards the Hispanic and Black musicians. It was expected by
club owners that the Hispanics were to play salsa music and the Blacks to play
dance music, but not Rock & Roll. It was also a time when musicians had to
“pay to play” and it was my first time to stand up and to fight for justice and
for the rights for artists in New York
City .
From 1987 to 1997, I was for 10 years a Public Access TV
producer in Manhattan ,
a club promoter and booking agent at New York Cities legendary Limelight,
Palladium, Danceteria and China Club and had a roster of 1000 bands. It also
gave me the opportunity to work with Black organizations such the Black Rock
Coalition and dance bands such as Breed In Motion and Bravo.
Also during this time, I created the “Promoters League”, to
raise funds for athletes going to the Gay Games in Vancouver
Canada
in 1990. The Promoters League was mostly black gay and lesbian promoters,
because I couldn’t get the white promoters motivated to participate. We had meetings
at the Limelight disco to produce a Fundraiser with DJ Frankie Knuckles at the
legendary Palladium disco. Mike Stone, the youngest gay black promoter in
history, introduced me to Cinnamon Production, a Black Lesbian organization. Mike
and I became lifetime friends and now he is still in me and with me after his
passing. In a long interview on Fire Island , Mike
taught me all about gay black club history and culture, how the music, fashion
and the drugs over the years changed the community and what impact it had. I
learned what it was like to be gay and black in NYC and the hard times he had finding
clubs in Manhattan
for his dance parties. Me, the “White” boy, I had access to all the clubs and I
learned about the discrimination against the Black and Hispanic community in
clubs. I introduced Mike Stone to some club owners and the rest is history. After
he established himself, he opened the Warehouse in the Bronx .
He partnered with club promoter Charles Jackson and together they found a home for
their parties for many years to come.
Mike Stone also introduced me to Ballroom Hall of Famer and
Icon Kevin Ultra Omni, because he crossed over from the Ball community into the
club scene as an MC. Meeting and getting to know Kevin was the beginning of
learning intensely Ballroom history. Kevin got me involved with Black Pride NYC
and I was introduced to James Saunders. I was a consultant and made up the
agenda for the meeting at the YMCA in Brooklyn
and I saw first hand how the first Black Pride Ball was produced and executed
under the umbrella of Black Pride NYC founder James Saunders. Kevin Omni was
very successful in bringing all the club promoters on the table during that
time. Mike Stone, James Saunders and Charles Jackson all had their own parties
and it was very political to bring them all together. I thought it was a
historical black pride moment to see them all come together for a good cause.
I also learned from Kevin Omni the most important issues
that affected the House Ball community. I learned from Kevin and many others first
hand about the negative impact AIDS organizations have on the ballroom community.
I learned what it is like to be part of a disenfranchised community, the lack
of recourses, access to education, health related issues and the negative impact
by the film “Paris
is Burning”. This film portrays the ball community as thieves, prostitutes and drug
users, which I always refer to as, this is no different from “Wall Street”.
Because of how the Ballroom community was presented in Paris is Burning, members from the ball
community asked me if I would do a documentary that is balanced, historic and
educationally correct. During the release of How Do I Look and the commercial
rejections, I learned that Paris
is Burning became the perfect propaganda tool for corporations, because they
use this film to portray this community as thieves, prostitutes and drug users.
They reject How Do I look, because it is historical, positive and educational.
Opportunists at not for profit organizations are also in support of Paris is
Burning, because they learned how to exploit, use and abuse this disenfranchised
Ball community for personal and financial gains. They are going as far as dividing
the community, manipulate our history and culture, corrupt the natural artistic
progression, slander the historians and educators names and are cutting into
the ballroom economics by millions of dollars. I hold them in part responsible
that the Ball community is in the “artistic ghetto” today, because they have also
created this negative environment around them. I also hold them responsible for
the high new HIV infection rate in the black community at 44%, the highest of
all communities. GMHC has an annual budget of 27 million dollars, we ask
ourselves why is the new infection rate so high in the black community, is it
because a) use it as a reason to stay in business? And or b) benefit
financially?
How is it possible, a community that inspires the biggest
pop stars on the planet, mesmerizing audiences’ world wide, has no access to
regular jobs in their field? Why is it that superstars Madonna and Lady Gaga
refuse to make artistic cultural statements about the Ball community and how it
helped their careers? Adding up all the negativity that is artificially created
and is surrounding this community it is no wonder they distanced themselves. Being
a disenfranchised community, which means, members from the community can not
speak up and stand up to fight for their rights, justice and best interest, because
they have become self-destructive and are without recourses.
We have to ask ourselves, who is really benefiting and at
what cost? Why is everybody turning a blind eye and why don’t people in our
community, who are responsible for helping people, including the ones who get
grant money from the government, why aren’t they helping the ballroom community.
It was for those reasons and my experience of 30 years, that
I got involved in the ballroom community as an activist. I came up with effective
models for activism and I am proud with the results we had in 2013.
In 2014, I founded the Reformers, an activist group with
Louis Flores Kevin Omni and Wolfgang Busch. Within one year, we take credit in
part for getting many people fired at GMHC including the CEO, COO, Director of
Communications and people resigned such as the GMHC Board Chair and Secretary.
Not bad for a hand full of people sticking their heads out for a good cause. We
learned that it is not about how many people are demonstrating on the street,
it is about how much pressure we can put on people and agencies and expose them
to the public.
Throughout my journey, I met so many beautiful people in the
Black community, gay and straight. When my mother Anni visited me from Germany
we went to Kevin Omni’s sister’s house and cooked a German meal for him, his
mom and family.
To this day, I receive the highest respect every time I go
to one of their functions, for me this is the best reward to be acknowledged in
that way by a community. They have not forgotten what I represent and what I
have done over the years. It motivates me and I am very grateful for that.
I have the highest respect for the Ball community, because
of their creativity and family values, we can all learn from it. After the
release of How Do I Look in 2006 and my involvement since 1995, I can honestly
say that there is a need for an organization representing the ballroom community’s
best interest and can help them with artistic empowerment and health related
issues. There is a need to educate the public, politicians and AIDS agencies to
change the public opinion, se we can build a productive future. We need to
unite our community again and start a healing process so our future generations
will benefit from it.
It is an honor and pleasure to serve the Ball community and
the communities at large.
"OUTmusic Spirit" Award
For his contributions to the LGBT Music Community
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Wolfgang Busch
Lara's OUTmusic "Spirit" Award introduction 2015.
Music entrepreneur and activist Wolfgang Busch heard about
Outmusic for the first time in the early 1990's, but didn't hang out at the
Open Mics at the LGBT community Center until 1995. The performers were mostly
singer songwriters playing the guitar and the Center's grand piano. The co-chairs
at the time were Jeff Krassner and Tom McCormack. It was a safe place to meet
and network, and many collaborations came out of it, such as songwriting,
concerts, seminars, CD releases and many friendships.
Wolfgang went to the Open Mics to scout for artists for his
weekly New York New Rock TV show on Manhattan Cable, and to book artists for
the legendary clubs such as the Limelight, China Club, Danceteria and Palladium.
He was already working with gay rock artist Cha Cha Fernandez and the
Slumlords, Jack Pavlik's industrial band Sweet Convulsions, Bryin's gothic band
Loretta's Doll and dance artist Frankie Castle and Denn Vetta. The 1990's was a
time when rock artists didn't want to come out as gay artists, because of the
fear of not getting a record deal.
Between 1990 and 2000, Wolfgang produced over 300 TV shows and
was promoting major label, indie and local artists on his New York New Rock TV
show and club nights. Wolfgang has a video archive of over 600 live
performances from CBGB's, Rock Ridge Saloon, The Grand, Tilt, Hot Rod, Cat
Club, Limelight, China Club, Danceteria, Wetlands and Zone dk. He interviewed
rock legends Robin Trower, Ronnie Montrose, Pete Way from UFO, GWAR, Nina
Hagen, pop band Bay City Rollers, R&B singer Ivan Neville, Mambo King Tito
Puente, and local legends Larry Mitchell who is now a Grammy award winning
producer, Phoebe Legere an East Village performance artist with
"Cult" status, and a 20th anniversary interview special with Hilly
Crystal, owner of CBGB's.
In 1984, Wolfgang came to the Big Apple with $20 in his
pocket, after the band (Soundwave) he was doing the sound and lights for broke
up in Lexington , Kentucky
After his arrival in Queens ,
Wolfgang took a job as a dental technician and was looking for opportunities to
get involved in the local music community. In 1985, he responded to an ad in
the Village Voice by the Local 802, the largest Musicians Union in the country,
located in Manhattan .
It was a volunteer position at the Dues department and a managing position for the
Rock R&B committee with a membership of 1,200 local musicians. Wolfgang took
this opportunity to produce industry seminars, showcases at the Cat Club and
Limelight and was the international talent scout for the college radio show
"What's Up Rock?!". He was the inspiration and
co-producer of the New York New Rock concert at Lincoln Center 's
Damrosch Park
For nearly 20 years, Wolfgang was not only an important
contributor to the NYC music scene, he served on the LGBT advisory board for
the Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, he volunteered for Jack
Herman from the Board of Education, who took Wolfgang under his wing and taught
him how to use video as a tool for art in education programs, including
intergenerational, disabled, puppetry and storytelling projects, and helped
with Jack's curriculum about the early days of radio. Wolfgang took this
experience and volunteered for the Sister City Program, sponsored by the United
Nations and the city of New York , a cultural
exchange program between New York City
and many cities around the world. Wolfgang was covering the visit from mayor Dempski
from Budapest in New York
City and for his documentary about the Baseball Youth Exchange
program between NYC and Tokyo
and won the "Communicator" award in 1996. Wolfgang feels blessed to
be able to volunteer and to give back to the community in that way.
Wolfgang's volunteer work also includes producing special
fundraising events for organizations such as God's Love We Deliver featuring
Jon Kelly, LifeBeat at GBGB's featuring Ivy Markety, The Gay Games at the
Palladium featuring legendary DJ Frankie Knockles and dance dive Barbara Tucker,
the Animal Adoption League at the Limelight, the Metrobears, Tuesday Night
Bowling, the Imperial Court of New York and at the Mercury Launch club he was
helping to raise funds for the musician Joe Hurley, who lost everything in a
fire.
In 2004, Wolfgang received the "Volunteer of the
Year" Award from the LGBT
Community Center
While establishing himself in the LGBT community, moving up
in the music ranks and working with all the mayor record labels and music
industry heavyweights such as Morty Craft and Pete Bennett, he learned about exploitation
and discrimination within the music industry. Wolfgang came to the conclusion
that the music industry was not for him, because prior to that, he also experienced
racism while he was touring the south of the United States with the rock cover
band "Soundwave", which had a black bass player. The band was rejected
by club owners because of him. In New
York City , Wolfgang learned about stereotyping from a Hispanic
rock band, who was told by club owners to play salsa music, and the Black rock
musicians were to play R&B music, but not rock music. Wolfgang saw a need
of empowerment and was determent to bring change to the artistic community. As
a result of it, he got involved in activism, and was advocating in the mid 80's
against the "Pay To Play" policy by the club "Tracks" in Manhattan .
Because Wolfgang is true to his heart and art and was always
open about his sexuality, he walked away from the corporate music business in
2000 and started his own not for profit organization called "New York New
Rock". He was working with many community based organizations, the Women
in Music, Black Rock Coalition, Christian Musicians United and the Staten
Island Rock Coalition. He was on the producers advisory board at Manhattan
Public Access TV, a talent scout for Louis Perego's "International Music
Video", hosted John Culkin's TV show "Citirock" and was featured
in local rock magazines, the East Coast Rocker, The Splatter Effect, The Music
Magazine, The Aquarian and the Village Voice.
Wolfgang was also successful in securing licensing deals
between Bellaphone Records in Germany
and Emergency and Quark Records in New
York City for the artists Bad Boys Blue, Jasmine, Jimi
Lifton and Barbara Powell. He managed an artist roster of 1000 bands and developed
many artists. He was DJing
un-signed bands between the live performances under the name
of "Amadeus" at the Cat Club, The Mission and the Sanctuary. He
published the "New Music Directory" source book, a local band
directory of American
un-signed rock bands, a newsletter "Rock Bits and
Pieces", and created a magazine called "demo", that
unfortunately never got off the ground, due to the lack of financial resources.
In December of 1997, he became an official member of
Outmusic, because he wanted to bring his experience to the local LGBT music
community. The board members were Patrick Arena, Andy Monroe, Frank Grimaldi,
Andrew Ballis and John Pollard. Wolfgang's first contribution to Outmusic was
to produce a Public Service Announcement for the Annual Outmusic Festival from September
2nd through the 7th, 1997, featuring Grant King, Amy Fix, Dan Martin, Laura
Wetzler, Melinda DiMao, Steve Sandberg, Tom McCormick, Zenobia Conkerite, Andy
Monroe and Frank Grimaldi. For the festival he also co-produced a concert at
the Central Park 's Bandshell, a fundraiser benefiting
LifeBeat and Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS, featuring Corinne Curcio, Grant
King, Zonna, Carl Chesna and Marshell Zarne. On October 19, he produced a fundraiser
with Victoria Weston and Jacqueline Shonee, benefiting the Centers' Capital
Campaign.
On April 22, 1998, Wolfgang produced a fundraiser at the Baggot
Inn for the All Out Arts "Out On The Edge Together Festival", featuring
Outmusic members Zecca, Flare, R&B singer Paul Lockwood and gospel singer
Daniel Neusom. For the Festival, which took place on May 2008 at the CSV Cultural
Center in the East Village
In 1999 and 2000, Wolfgang was a selected GLAMA judge and
the volunteer coordinator at the Manhattan
Center GLAMA .
After being involved in Outmusic for 5 years, Wolfgang increased
the membership, was producing and
co-producing special events, and was also introducing new
artists and music genres such as Gospel, R&B and Drag performers.
In 2000, Wolfgang decided to run for the managing director
position together with Deien McBride as the artistic director to further develop
the Outmusic organization. His first mission was to bring back the Open Mics
again, which was always the backbone of OUTmusic. Together with Andrew Ballis, they
scouted many places. On April 3, 2000 the Open Mics were back, called
"Outmusic OutLoud". It was our new home at the C-Note club in the East Village
It was also in 2000 when the Outmusic directors talked about
the first Outmusic Membership Choice Awards, which was a long time coming, but was
always falling through in the past, because of power struggles. As they got
closer to the final OMA production, it became clear to Wolfgang that this time
was no different and he resigned after only being the managing director for 10
months. After that unfortunate experience, he moved on and got further involved
in the Harlem Ballroom community, who are known for setting trends in dance,
fashion, music and language.
In 1989, Wolfgang met Mike Stone, the youngest gay black
club promoter in New York City ,
while he was bringing together club promoters to raise funds for local
charities. Mike introduced Wolfgang to the ballroom historian Kevin Omni from
the Harlem House Ball community who was also an MC at the Black gay clubs. In
1996, Wolfgang was asked by the Ballroom historians and icons to produce and
direct a documentary sequel in content to the film "Paris is Burning", which was rejected by
the Harlem Ballroom historians for its exploitation and imbalance. After 10
years of videotaping ballroom footage, he self-released in 2006 worldwide his
first Historic Art film "How Do I Look", featuring Ballroom Hall of
Famers and Icons Pepper Labeija, Octavia St. Laurent, Kevin Omni and Madonna
dancer Jose Xtravaganza, with music by Grammy nominated songwriter duo Michael
O'Hara and Jerico DeAngelo. It won in 2008 "Best Documentary" from
ADD TV in New York City and a
"Humanitarian" Award at the Diaspora Film Festival in Berlin , Germany
In 2011, he released his second Historic Art film "Flow
Affair", which is about the flag and fan dance, featuring flagging
sensation Xavier Caylor from San
Francisco with music from Tony award winner Melba
Moore, Billboard charting artist Meli'sa Morgan and Man Parrish. Wolfgang's Historic
Art Films are featuring the flagging and voguing dance, which are dance forms
that originated in the gay community. Wolfgang introduced George Jagatic from
the flagging community to the House of Khan, to teach them the flag dance
techniques. Wolfgang's idea was to bring together both communities to create a
new dance called "Floguing"; Flagging + Voguing = Floguing.
Today, Wolfgang is screening and lecturing artistic
empowerment and HIV awareness at the most prestigious universities across the
country like Yale, NYU and Penn
State
Wolfgang is a visionary, entrepreneur, ambassador,
motivator, inspiration and a community leader for the LGBT community since the
late 1980's and is well known in the community for his volunteer work, activism
and advocacy, fighting for justice and empowerment. On January 31st, 2015 he is
being recognized and will be receiving the very prestigious "Keep The
Dream Alive" the Martin Luther King JR. Humanitarian award from First
Class Entertainment, a well established straight Black social club, for his
activism for the LGBT Black & Hispanic Ballroom community.
Wolfgang's project for 2015 is to produce and direct a new
documentary for Art From The Heart Films called "My 1990's", which
will be about the New York City
rock scene during the 1990's, including former Outmusic members Tom McCormick
and Robert Urban.
Wolfgang's acceptance
speech
Thank you Lara, Outmusic and the nominations committee for
recognizing and acknowledging my contributions to the LGBT community. I am
dedicating this award to our brothers and sisters we lost to the AIDS epidemic
and to all the activists fighting for empowerment and justice. Thank you.
2020 “Business Hall Of Fame” Art From The Heart Films
Wolfgang
Busch, Hall Of Fame, Humanitarian Awards, Honors, Certificates
2023 “Business Hall Of Fame” Art From The Heart Films
2022 “Business Hall Of Fame” Art From The Heart Films
2021 “Business Hall Of Fame” Art From The Heart Films
2021 "Impact Award" Wolfgang Busch
2018 “Business Hall Of Fame” Art From The Heart Films
2018 “Best Of 2015 Queens” Art From The Heart Films, Gay & Lesbian Organizations
2017 “Best Of 2015 Queens” Art From The Heart Films, Gay & Lesbian Organizations
2016 “Best Of 2015 Queens” Art From The Heart Films, Gay & Lesbian Organizations
2015 “Best Of 2015 Queens” Art From The Heart Films, Gay & Lesbian Organizations
2015 "Keep The Dream Alive" Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award
2015 “Spirit” Award by Outmusic
2015 “Best of 2015 Queens” Award for Art From The Heart Films
2015 “LGBT Hall Of Fame” induction
2014 “The Omni Icon” Award
2009 “Icon” Award from Our Youth, New Jersey
2009 “Maverick” Movie Award nomination for Best Performance for Willi Ninja, Jose Xtravaganza & Ross Infiniti
2008 “Marcel Christian Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters” Honor
2008 “Best film/video on matters relating to the Black Experience Marginalized People” Humanitarian Award, Berlin Germany
2007 “PILL” Award for Best Documentary, New York City
2005 “Lifetime Achievement and Service” Award from Kevin Omni & Willi Ninja
2005 “GayLifeUK Gold” Award, England
2004 “Volunteer of the Year” Award from the LGBT Community Center in New York City, Bingo
2004 “UNITED STATES Web” Award
2004 “KARA ART SILVER” Award
2004 “COWGOMOO Website” Award
2004 “POWER IN PRIDE” Award
2004 “GAY-DAYS” Award for HDIL website design & content
2004 “5-Star Goodwill Gold” Award - Bi Men Network
2004 “Stonewall Society PRIDE IN THE ARTS” Award - Director
2004 “Stonewall Society PRIDE IN THE ARTS” Award - Performance Literature
2004 “Avis Pendavis Creativity & Community” Award from the House of Khan
2003 “Hetrick Martin Institute” Certificate of Appreciation Award
2003 “The KEVIN OMNI Lifetime Achievement” Award
2003 “Outstanding Contribution” Honor from New York University "Shades"
2003 “Achievement” Award from Joseph Ebony - Taz Omni
2003 “Example of Excellence” Honor from the House of Omni and House of Ebony
2002 “Support and Dedication” Certificate from CINNAFEST, Cleveland, Ohio
2000 “Appreciation” Award from the House of Omni, 20th Anniversary
1999 “Mikie” Award for Sound at the Pines Arts Project Theater on Fire Island, NY
1999 “Mikie” Award for Lighting Design at the Pines Arts Project Theater on Fire Island, NY
1999 “Mikie” Award for Sound at the Arts Project of Cherry Grove on Fire Island, NY, 1999.
1999 “Mikie” Award for Lighting Design at the Arts Project of Cherry Grove on Fire Island, NY
1998 “The Souls of New York” for Emmy Award winning series for PBS for Sterling Films
1998 “DraCo” Award for the MTV music video for the band "Sum" for MTV's 120 Minutes TV show, 1998.
1998 “Dedicated Service” Award from the Metropolitan Community Athletic Association of New York (MCAANY)
1996 “Ace” Award for Live Audio for the TV show "Gospel Today", 1996
1996 “Communicator” Award for NY / Tokyo Youth Baseball Sister City Exchange Program, sponsored by the United Nations and the City of New York
