Let Me IntervYOU! Episode #11
Andy Ingall discovered a connection to a distant cousin, Leon Ingall, and created Warlé (https://www.warleinc.com/), which uses archival documents, photography, original artifacts, dance, clothing design and creative nonfiction to manifest the lives led by Leon and his partner, Warren Kronemeyer. Warlé’s goals are to encourage others to explore their queer ancestry and to generate conversations about how we care for LGBTQ+ elders and refugees today.
“Warlé” combines Warren’s and Leon’s names and became the name of a small business co-founded in 1958 by the two men on Manhattan's Upper East Side that specialized in antiques, contemporary objects, art framing, restoration and interior decoration.
Leon was a Jewish refugee and fashion designer who fled Bolshevik Russia, relocated to Weimar Berlin and emigrated to the U.S. in 1940; Warren was a writer, journalist, antiques dealer and an operative of the WWII-era U.S. Office of Strategic Services. They were life partners for 58 years.
After decades together in New York, they left the city in 1980 and relocated to Townshend, Vermont, and became beloved citizens of this rural community. The people of Townshend took good care of them at the end of their lives. They donated their home and property, which have since become part of Townshend’s Valley Village, an affordable senior living community.
Andy’s Warlé Project envisions repairing broken branches in our family trees, to graft new ones and to think expansively about kinship and caregiving. In the past three years, he has hosted multimedia dance-theater events throughout Vermont that spotlight the life story of these two men, LGBTQ+ caregiving and the meaning of community. The New York Public Library featured Andy in its Researcher Spotlight Series. Andy was a 2022 Fellow at LABA New York, a Laboratory for Jewish Culture and has been awarded numerous research grants. He currently serves as an Ambassador for the Foundation for Social Connection.
The Reimagine Community knows Andy in his “Day Job” as the amazing Director of Reimagine’s Virtual Public Programs. He leads and supports the creation of engaging virtual events and experiences by a growing community of Reimagine Collaborators. The virtual events that Andy hosts foster connections and meaningful conversations about loss, grief and growth.
Andy has more than two decades of experience in the arts, culture and civic engagement as a curator, scholar, writer, performer, and producer. He excels in bringing together diverse thought leaders, practitioners and audiences across disciplines and interests: artists, activists, designers, chaplains, nurses, death doulas, funeral directors, grief coaches, etc.
Andy received a B.A. from Columbia College and an M.A. in Performance Studies from Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. He has organized exhibitions and public programs for The Brooklyn Museum, Electronic Arts Intermix, The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz, Wave Hill and other cultural institutions. He is an Associated Artist at Culture Push, an organization that creates programs to nurture artists and other creative people approaching common problems through hands-on civic participation and imaginative problem-solving.
Welcome join us to learn more about Andy’s Passion Project, Warlé, and what he has learned about himself as he has explored family and LGBTQ+ history.
Host: Lily Liu, Family Caregiver Advocate.
Guest: Andy Ingall, Reimagine’s Director of Virtual Public Programs and Creator of Warlé.
