Honorees

The Keith Haring Foundation

The mission of the Keith Haring Foundation is to sustain, expand, and protect the legacy of Keith Haring, his art, and his ideals. The Foundation supports not-for-profit organizations that assist children, as well as organizations involved in education, research and care related to AIDS.

Keith Haring (1958-1990) generously contributed his talents and resources to numerous causes. He conducted art workshops with children, created logos and posters for public service agencies, and produced murals, sculptures, and paintings to benefit health centers and disadvantaged communities. In 1989, Keith established a foundation to ensure that his philanthropic legacy would continue indefinitely.

The Keith Haring Foundation makes grants to not-for-profit groups that engage in charitable and educational activities. In accordance with Keith’s wishes, the Foundation concentrates its giving in two areas: The support of organizations which provide educational opportunities to underprivileged children and the support of organizations which engage in education, prevention and care with respect to AIDS and HIV infection.

Keith Haring additionally charged the Foundation with maintaining and protecting his artistic legacy after his death. The Foundation maintains a collection of art along with archives that facilitate historical research about the artist and the times and places in which he lived and worked. The Foundation supports arts and educational institutions by funding exhibitions, educational programs, acquisitions and publications that serve to contextualize and illuminate the artist’s work and philosophy.

Joy Tomchin

A nationally recognized activist in the LGBT, women’s and children’s rights movements, Joy joined the Board of Directors of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in 1987, and served as GMHC’s Board President from 1989-1992, co-founding the Lesbian AIDS Project.  In October of 1990, Joy was appointed by Mayor David Dinkins to the Board of the Economic Development Corporation of the City of New York and served for four years as the Board’s only openly LGBT member.  Joy served as the national co-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund (1992-1996) and received, among other awards, the Victory Award in recognition of her service.  She now serves as the Co-Chair of the Sage National Leadership Council.

A graduate of Syracuse University (BA in psychology) and Temple University (MA in psychology), she worked for some years as a psychologist specializing in vocational counseling and business consultation.  For nearly 30 years, she has been a partner in Vanguard Investors Ltd., a New York City real estate firm engaged in the acquisition, development, renovation, and management of both commercial and residential properties.  In that capacity she spearheaded the start of the Sutphin Boulevard Business Improvement District and served as chair for three years.

In 2012, Joy co-founded Public Square Films, a social issues film and TV production company based in New York.

Currently Joy is executive producer of the documentary, “How to Survive a Plague” directed by award-winning journalist David France.  As of the writing, the 2012 Sundance Selects film has received the Gotham Award for Best Documentary, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best First Film (Director), the Boston Society of Film Critics nod for Best First Film and Best Documentary, and the International Documentary Association’s Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Filmmaker Award, and has been nominated for numerous other awards including an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.  It is a finalist for an academy award in the documentary category, and appears on countless “Ten Best of 2012” lists, including in Entertainment Weekly.

Joy lives in Chelsea with her 18-year old son, Evan.