While Truman Capote declared, “There’s nothing bitchier than a Southern Queen”, our resident southern boy, Ames gives a helping hand (and pen) to several of our regular features with as much sugar coated love as he can muster… at least without the benefit of coffee. After humble beginnings, he was able to see the world first hand, living in New Orleans, Los Angeles and Chicago, finally landing in the Heartland.
A graduate of Tulane University with a BFA in Sculpture and an MFA in Performance Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, his career really took off with the advent of the Internet and Web development. As both artist and writer, Ames currently teaches Interactive Media at a local college after toiling for years in the telecom industry doing multimedia training. It was at Sprint that he worked to form the first GLBT employee group and help establish domestic partner benefits there. Sprint continues to receive top scores from HRC on their equality ranking.
In addition to his career in multimedia and teaching, Ames has had such odd and diverse avocations as museum docent, p.r. grunt, flotation tank and brainwave trainer, performance artist and most recently, added the title “Dad” to the list. He continues to run a small textile design business as well.
He and his partner are currently renovating their mid-century modern home in Kansas City, spend weekends at the lake and enjoy their “never dull” life with 3 Jack Russells and their 12 year old son, Morgan.
