KGA and Cancer Below the Belt Return to the Weird Homes Tour

For media inquiries, contact Allison Lott
[email protected]
713-269-9691

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

The Third Annual Weird Homes Tour Returns to Houston October 6, 2018
This One-Day-Only Event Showcases Houston’s Most Extraordinary Living Spaces

HOUSTON, Texas— Weird Homes Tour is pleased to announce its return to Houston for its third annual event on Saturday, October 6, 2018 from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. This one-of-a-kind journey takes attendees throughout Houston and into some of this city’s most extraordinary homes. Weird Homes Tour returns to Houston after expanding nationwide, with the tour in its original hometown of Austin, plus inaugural tours in New Orleans, Detroit, and Portland.

The Weird Homes Tour is self-paced and self-driving tour of eight of Houston’s most remarkable homes. Take a peek into the lives of Houstonians who have blurred the line between art space and living space and live amongst a breathtaking array of art and unique collections. Tickets are $30 to see all but one of the homes, spread across different neighborhoods in Houston, and $55 to unlock access to the VIP home of Will Breaux, the newly finished McGowen Container House, incorporating 11 shipping containers to create 3 stories of living space. VIP ticket buyers also get a complimentary copy of Weird Homes Tour’s recently released bestselling coffee table book, Weird Homes: The People and Places That Keep Austin Strangely Wonderful. Weird Homes Tour a family friendly event where kids 13 and under can tour for free.

Other new homes on the tour include the High Water House of Drew and Pam Shefman (son and daughter-in-law of Weird Homes Tour veteran, Sue Shefman) and The House of Luminosity, the studio and home of glass artist, Kim Clark Renteria. Located in the flood prone Meyerland neighborhood, High Water House is an ordinary mid-century modern home made extraordinary when the couple decided to lift it 10 feet into the air. This has led to an interesting and unusual use of space under the home. The House of Luminosity is filled with vibrant colors and the mosaic and stained glass work of its owner.

The homes on the tour will be those of artists, collectors of oddities, rare art collectors, and more, and only visitors of the Weird Homes Tour will get a glimpse inside the walls of these truly unique Houston spaces. Returning favorites on the tour include Kelly Gale Amen’s KGA Compound at the Historic Dakota Lofts, which is filled with the juxtaposition of extremes that just seem to fit perfectly together. Amen’s home and his contribution to the lobby of the Dakota Lofts with commissioned paintings to bring awareness to his charity, Cancer Below the Belt, is inspired by the awareness of living with what we love, the awareness of repurposed living spaces and the awareness of finding a path for one’s health and adventure. Also returning this year are Selia Qyinn’s Secret Garden whose backyard oasis is tucked away on three quarters of an acre in Spring Branch; The Artist’s Haven, the art studio/living space of celebrated artist, Sharon Kopriva’s who, for more than thirty years, has combined two- and three-dimensional media often with fusions of papier-mâché and found objects, and is known for creating mummy-like, haunting sculptural pieces; Sue Shefman’s Hippolotofus Home with her collection of over 2000 hippos, including her well-known hippo art car; and The Art House of Bonnie Blue, where the home itself is the canvas for her unique folk creations.
The tour will give back by donating a portion of all ticket sales to local affordable housing charity, New Hope Housing, an organization whose core purpose is to provide life-stabilizing, affordable, permanent housing with support services for people who live on very limited incomes. This will be the second year to partner with this deserving organization. Weird Homes Tour supports their vision to be an enduring institution serving Houston’s most vulnerable citizens. Learn more at www.newhopehousing.com.
The Weird Homes Tour was founded in Austin in 2014 by Chelle and David J. Neff who had a vision to showcase the places that make Austin fun, irreverent, strange and dynamic. After the first successful tours in Austin, the Neffs brought the Weird Homes Tour to Houston in 2016, and it has now expanded nationwide. The coffee table book is available on Amazon for $16.99.
https://www.amazon.com/Weird-Homes-People-Strangely-Wonderful/dp/1510723609/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

ABOUT WEIRD HOMES TOUR:
We are a social impact start-up, created by a team of event veterans that takes care of our people, our planet and makes a profit. We were founded in 2014 and held our first tour in Austin that same year. We take our profits and put them back into our communities by investing in smart, well-run nonprofits and other social impact businesses. We promise to value what makes Austin and Houston great. We exist to share the story of past, present, and future culture of Houston, as well as preserving and protecting what’s unique in this great city. For more information, visit www.weirdhomestour.com.

CBTB & KGA | Weird Homes Tour 2018

Weird Homes Tour recruiting homes for 2018 tour

  • Kelly Gale Amen's loft is filled with art and furniture he's either made or collected in his travels. His home was featured on the 2017 Weird Home Tour. Photo: Thanin Viriyaki Photography
Photo: Thanin Viriyaki Photography
Kelly Gale Amen’s loft is filled with art and furniture he’s either made or collected in his travels. His home was featured on the 2017 Weird Home Tour.

Winking hippos, a C3PO-like metallic mannequin, outlandish art and over-the-top murals have all won over judges at the annual Weird Homes Tour. The next tour is set for Oct. 6, and organizers are recruiting homes and homeowners for the next lineup.

The home tour that celebrates eccentric personalities and sometimes odd decor began in Austin in 2014 when organizers Chelle and David J. Neff wanted to play tribute to the inherent weirdness in that city. It spread to Houston in 2016, and now is also in New Orleans, Detroit and Portland. It’s also the subject of a new coffee table book, “Weird Homes: The People and Places That keep Austin Strangely Wonderful” (Skyhorse Publishing; $16.99).

To be considered to be one of the eight to 10 homes chosen for the tour, you have to be willing to let hundreds of complete strangers traipse through your home, but you’ll also get professional photos of your home, a little publicity and, of course, bragging rights about the degree of your own weirdness.

Past tour homes include Kelly Gale Amen’s art-filled loft downtown, Selia Qynn’s garden-rich Spring Branch home and Sue Shefman’s “Hippolotofus” home, filled with hundreds of hippos as well as an art car that can wink at you (via remote control).

The tour will be 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 6 and tickets are $30-$55. Apply to be part of the tour at www.weirdhomestour.com.

Cancer Below the Belt in Support of Biological Dentistry

Cancer Below the Belt had a blast at the IABDM (International Academy of Biological and Dental Medicine) conference! We believe in the practices of Holistic Dentistry and it’s alignmnent with our mission of giving people alternatives!

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Get Caught With Your Pants Down on the Weird Homes Tour

View the Houston Chronicle’s coverage of Kelly Gale Amen’s loft and Cancer Below the Belt.

Houston Weird Homes Tour
October 7, 2017
Dakota Lofts

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CBTB and KGA on the Weird Homes Tour!

Check out the Weird Homes Tour and #GetCaughtWithYourPantsDown!

“We seek two things from our buildings. We want them to shelter us. And we want them to speak to us – to speak to us of whatever we find important and need to be reminded of.” – Alan De Botton.

Kelly Gale Amen has been an influential and eccentric designer and participant in the Houston arts & design community since 1974. His work has been described as shocking and deliciously enchanting and we can’t think of a better way to describe his downtown urban loft as well.

It’s a home that is filled with the juxtaposition of extremes that just seem to fit perfectly together. Amen’s home is humorous, dark, sentimental, eclectic, and erotic. Contemporary sculptures sit next to tribal artifacts. A child’s portrait of his pet Dalmatian, “Fire Hydrant”, sits next to a renaissance style religious oil painting.  The home is filled with the unique furniture he designed and they sit next to a photo of his furniture, on fire. You can see his furniture anywhere from the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences to the Oklahoma State Capital to the Cosmonauts Museum of Moscow.

Kelly also a cancer survivor and the founder of the nonprofit, Cancer Below the Belt, which seeks to spread awareness and screening of the “Dirty Dozen” through humor.  You can find information and photos about the CBB in the building lobby and don’t be surprised if you are asked to #GetCaughtWithYourPantsDown!

And you can only see his amazing home on the Weird Homes Tour by buying a ticket.

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Mezlan and CBTB Father’s Day Tour

Mezlan, the finest men’s footwear boutique in America, is proud to have hosted a three-city tour in partnership with Cancer Below the Belt at Mezlan Chicago (6/7/2017), Mezlan Washington, D.C (6/9/2017), and Mezlan Atlanta (6/15/2017).

The evening will feature live entertainment from the incomparable jazz singer, Kellye Gray, who will perform songs from her upcoming album, “Rendering” which will be released June 30th. With her stunning musicality and warm, enveloping voice, Texas native Kellye Gray is one of the most accomplished jazz vocalists on the national scene. Gray’s profile continues to grow by leaps and bounds, recording over half-dozen albums as a leader and logging performances nationally and internationally at world-class venues and festivals including Lincoln Center, the Spoleto Festival, Yoshi’s, and SFJAZZ. Kellye has been honored to share the stage with legends Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, and Etta James, to name a few. Expect an evening of fun and conversation about areas of the body that we do not normally talk about: the areas “below the belt.” Mezlan, as a men’s outfitter, recognizes the importance of healthy living and cancer awareness.

 

 

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Father’s Day at Mezlan Atlanta

Mezlan, the finest men’s footwear boutique in Atlanta, is proud to host an evening of awareness in partnership with Cancer Below the Belt, Juwado Life and the AC Hotel. The evening will feature live entertainment from the incomparable jazz singer, Kellye Gray, who will perform songs from her upcoming album, “Rendering” which will be released June 30th. With her stunning musicality and warm, enveloping voice, Texas native Kellye Gray is one of the most accomplished jazz vocalists on the national scene. Gray’s profile continues to grow by leaps and bounds, recording over half-dozen albums as a leader and logging performances nationally and internationally at world-class venues and festivals including Lincoln Center, the Spoleto Festival, Yoshi’s, and SFJAZZ. Kellye has been honored to share the stage with legends Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, and Etta James, to name a few. Expect an evening of fun and conversation about areas of the body that we do not normally talk about: the areas “below the belt.” Mezlan, as a men’s outfitter, recognizes the importance of healthy living and cancer awareness. Juwado Life, a premier vendor of herbal and natural health solutions, focuses on supporting those who believe in working towards living a consciously healthy lifestyle. Join Mezlan at the AC Hotel in Buckhead on June 15th from 6-8 pm for an evening you will not soon forget!

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Where

Mezlan Atlanta
Phipps Plaza
3500 Peachtree Rd NE D-8
Atlanta, GA 30326

When
June 15, 2017, 6-8pm

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At the event, we held a raffle drawing where you could win one of the following items:

Athena Pillow ($1000 Value)
Fabric 24/32

Hora Pillow ($250 Value)
Fabric 10/7

Chain Stitch Pillow ($250 Value)
Hand Made in Kashmir
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Father’s Day at Mezlan Arlington

Join us in Arlington on June 9, 2017 for a celebration of awareness! Cancer Below the Belt is collaborating with Mezlan for a national tour in support of cancer awareness. Cancer Below the Belt’s mission is to bring awareness of below the belt cancers to the public. Expect an evening of fun and conversation about areas of the body that we do not normally talk about: the areas “below the belt.” Cancer Below the Belt founder Kelly Gale Amen, a prostate cancer survivor, founded Cancer Below the Belt in 2014 with a mission to “put the ease back in disease.” Amen discovered that people were afraid to talk about the symptoms of cancers below the belt. In response to that, he decided to stir up the conversation and “put the privates in plain sight.” CBTB would rather have people learn to talk about uncomfortable subjects than die having never spoken about them. CBTB’s message is simple, “Get informed. Get tested. Talk about it. It’s OK.”

 

 

 

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Where

Mezlan Arlington
Fashion Centre at Pentagon City
1100 S Hayes St
Arlington, VA 22202

When
June 9, 2017, 6-8pm

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At the event, we held a raffle drawing where you could win one of the following items:

Athena Pillow($1000 Value)
Fabric 10/7

Hora Pillow ($250 Value)
Fabric 24/32

Chain Stitch Pillow ($250 Value)
Hand Made in Kashmir

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Father’s Day at Mezlan Chicago

Join us in Chicago on June 7, 2017 for a celebration of awareness! Cancer Below the Belt is collaborating with Mezlan for a national tour in support of cancer awareness. Cancer Below the Belt’s mission is to bring awareness of below the belt cancers to the public. Expect an evening of fun and conversation about areas of the body that we do not normally talk about: the areas “below the belt.” Cancer Below the Belt founder Kelly Gale Amen, a prostate cancer survivor, founded Cancer Below the Belt in 2014 with a mission to “put the ease back in disease.” Amen discovered that people were afraid to talk about the symptoms of cancers below the belt. In response to that, he decided to stir up the conversation and “put the privates in plain sight.” CBTB would rather have people learn to talk about uncomfortable subjects than die having never spoken about them. CBTB’s message is simple, “Get informed. Get tested. Talk about it. It’s OK.”

 

 

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Where

Mezlan Chicago
900 North Michigan Shops
900 N Michigan Ave, Suite L3-05
Chicago, IL 60611

When
June 7, 2017, 6-8pm

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At the event, we held a raffle drawing where you could win one of the following items:

Athena Pillow ($1000 Value)
Fabric 24/32

Hora Pillow ($250 Value)
Fabric 10/7

Chain Stitch Pillow ($250 Value)
Hand Made in Kashmir

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Shoes On, Pants Off @ Mezlan Galleria

Cancer Below the Belt & Mezlan Shoes Present #GetCaughtWithYourPantsDown

The Cancer Below the Belt and Mezlan partnership continues! Mezlan, being a luxury men’s footwear brand, clearly understands the importance of raising awareness about cancers below the belt.  On December 1st, we hosted our second event in partnership with Mezlan Shoes. Revelers enjoyed prosecco and chocolate while talking about the un-talked-about areas of the body!

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 Event Photos

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