#YankeeDoodles - Along for The Ride

Not just chasing dreams, I'm making them happen.

Oct 23, 2024

On June 15th I sat in my living room watching a live stream of the Dresden Dolls on YouTube. I jumped in the comments, and many familiar names filtered through the chat. Much to my delight, and surprise, artist Niki McQueen was in attendance, all the way from 3am in the future. You see, Niki lives in Cape Town, South Africa, a full 6 hours ahead of Eastern Time (NYC).

Over the past couple of years, Niki has created a series of evocative artworks in collaboration with Amanda Palmer and the Dresden Dolls, called “In Unison”. The collaboration started when Niki sent Amanda an artwork she created that was inspired by Amanda’s influence on Niki’s life in the wake of interpersonal trials, disability diagnosis, and learning to live with long Covid.

I have been following Niki’s works since I first saw her image of Keeper of Light and the work that Amanda shared of their tour posters and other pieces they created together. I felt instantly drawn to Niki’s work… It is rare for me to find a living artist whose work resonates with my emotions so vividly. As it turns out, Niki is also a late-diagnosed, neurodivergent and autistic woman. Niki also survived abusive situations. Niki’s life sounded very much like my own.

While we were in the chat, watching our favorite band hammer away at the keys & drum set, and shred their collective lungs, Niki mentioned that she had never seen the Dolls (or Amanda) play live before, online or in person. I was stunned, and immediately struck with an idea: crowdfunding an epic adventure for her to come to the United States to see their shows in the Fall.

Over 40 people donated to the GoFundMe. Over $5,000 was raised. (It is still currently open, as a few last-minute expenses have come up.)

Dozens of phone calls, thousands of WhatsApp messages, handfuls of stress, and thousands of miles/kilometers later, here we are in upstate New York, sharing an AirBnB, on the first day of our 10 day adventure together.

Over the next 10 days we will see three of four Dresden Dolls shows in both Woodstock, NY and Boston, MA. We’ll be selling prints & original artworks at those three shows. We’ll be at any of Amanda’s Patreon meet-ups. We’ll be packaging and shipping art that was pre-ordered on Niki’s website. We’ll be resting, as both of us are neurodivergent, AuDHD, and physically disabled, but we’re also going to get into some adventures in the area.

Stay tuned for some behind-the-scenes and in-front-of-the-scenes photos and stories over the next couple of weeks! For now, it’s time for us to unpack, settle in, and rest up for exploration!

To everyone who donated… we deeply, sincerely, most assuredly appreciate everything. From those who lent their time and talents, to those who donated amounts small and large, we could not have done this without you. You have made not just Niki’s dream come true, but you’ve given this stay-and-work-from-home-mom the adventure of a lifetime as well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.