Wonder Women In Action!

Jan 13th Pre Launch at the JCC  II  Feb 8th Official Launch abroad the Greenpeace Ship  April 5th WW Against Violence at Thomson Reuters Historic Location  II  April 17th SpringAwakening Yoga Event at Equinox Fitness   II  June 3rd Pride Kick- Off  at the Rubin Museum  II July 27th Bollywood Rooftop Event  II  September 15th Breast Cancer Fund Raiser  II  Nov 29th WW Series Art Exhibit at Rooster Gallery with essay by Sotheby’s Kathy Battista and WW Calendar

Without a doubt the launch of Wonder Women was an impressive success. We were very fortunate to have so many incredible women and men feel inspired by the very idea of what we envision.

Our pre launch event was on Jan 13th at the JCC where we had a night of comedy with the simply outrageous Jessica Halem and international actor, model and writer in commercials, TV and film and Wonder Women Ambassador  Lauren LoGiudice  got the evening started….

Our official lunch event was on Feb 8th at Chelsea Piers Dock. Now not too many people can make the statement that their launch event was abroad the famous world renowned ship the Arctic Sunrise . This ship is know for the amazing work done for our global community and belongs to Greenpeace International . Wonder Women was very fortunate to catch  the attention of none other than the COO of this truly exceptional environmentally focused organization Willem van Rijn and the Captain and Staff abroad the Arctic Sunrise. Our VIP Guest received a Private Tour of the esteemed vessel, and Hors d’Oeuvres was specially prepared by Celebrity Chef Yoanne Magris of the Upper East Side French bistro Yo In Yo Out. We all enjoyed the amazing voice of Nathalie Douglas and special performance by upcoming artist Melissa Rey performing her smash hit  release song “Wonder Woman”

Wonder Women Against Violence, April 5th , Thomson Reuters Historic Location “We are ALL Survivors”. This event was sponsored by Thomson Reuters and held at their historic downtown location in the financial district. An exclusive and powerfully moving video was presented by Wonder Women where personal stories were shared. Keynote speaker for the evening was Aldiana Sisic – Campaign Manager, UN Secretary-General’s Campaign UNiTE to End Violence. Hors d’oeuvres prepared by Celebrity Chef Yoanne Magris of the Upper East Side French bistro Yo In Yo Out.

Hello! Spring Awakening Yoga Event, April 17th  sponsored by Equinox Fitness . Group Fitness Manager and senior Yoga Instructor Sarra Morton and yoga teacher Jessa Messina of Equinox Fitness at 19th Street Union Square took participants through a vigorous flow class with “hands-on” adjustments that was enjoyed by every fitness level. Everyone receive a one week pass to Equinox at 19th Street and one lucky person won a one month pass to the club!

Our Pride Kick Off, June 3rd 2011- We kicked off Pride month with community partners and sponsors at the Rubin Museum as part of our mission of UNIFYING DIVERSITY amongst all groups. Admission was complimentary and OPEN to ALL members, friends and STRAIGHT allies. DJ Charo provided cool grooves in the K2 Lounge of the beautiful Rubin Museum of Art featuring 2-for-1 drink specials. The Rubin staff suprised executive director Aliya Hallim-Byne with the cool news that they had created a cocktail called “Wonder Woman” that will be served for the first time that evening. There was free gallery admission all night long and some lucky attendees got to enjoy one of 2 free tours around the theme of Transgender in Himalayan Art followed by Cabaret Cinema film Dogtooth.

Bollywood Rooftop Event , July 27 2010 - At this women’s ONLY Bollywood cultural event with our partner the JCC in Manhattan many women joined us for an incredible exotic evening set in two dramatic JCC spaces.We began with a guided tour of Indian Artist Siona Benjamin’s exquisite Gallery exhibit where attendees met the incredible artist herself! Then we travel to The Meyerson Family Roof Terrace for an wonderful evening where they were treated to beautifully painted henna tattoos (temporary) drank delicious wine, sampled Indian hors d’oeuvres, listened to wonderful Eastern music and where Siona hds “blue dancers” who combined the characters from her painting with traditional indian dances, all set to Indian/jazz/Hip-hop/Bollywood music in performance art!

Breast Cancer Awareness and Fund Raiser, September 15th - Wonder Women, partners, friends and allies came together at RF Lounge for an emotional, meaningful and fun-filled event as we presented a great evening of inspiring words and live entertainment to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer. Our speakers for the evening were Kathleen van Rijn, founder of Lion Heart, a two time breast cancer survivor and Wonder Women’s beloved board member and keynote speaker, Dara Richardson-Heron MD, the Komen Greater NYC CEO, also a survivor. Kicking off our line up of great entertainers for the evening will be Melissa Rey, whose title track “Wonder Woman” was the theme song for film “Gun Hill Road” which received rave reviews at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Wonder Women’s music producer and DJ extraordinaire, Charo Valecio provided the grooves. Our other simply amazing performers for the evening were Lindsay Katt, Melissa E. Driscol and Lauren Amaris!

100 percent of proceeds collect for this and subsequent efforts went support the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Komen Greater NYC, and Team Lion Heart. Its goes without saying that we are very proud of these efforts and thank all those who contributed and worked extremely hard to make this such a success.

Honoring REAL WOMEN through Art, November 29th  Rooster Gallery .Wrapping up our 2011 Wonder Women’s Founder and CEO  co-produced with Artist Fedele Spadafora her first in a series of works she would like to do that honors women. This project was titled Wonder Women Series 1. Each work was a stunning painting which  depicted a powerful woman whose contributions have both inspired Hallim-Byne and created an impact on New York. This first larger than life series was exhibited at the Rooster Gallery and Hallim -Byne also produced a high end calendar based on the paintings. The event was a great success, with conversations shared over wine and much appreciation for Aliya’s efforts and the amazing women she honored with these simply powerful Art Portraits. Learn more about this project and read the essay about it by Sotheby’s Kathy Battista.

Just prior to the NYC exhibit the painting of Hallim-Byne was greatly received as part of an art exhibition in Tunisia that featured some of  Fedele’s  work.