On December 5, 2025, months of hard work and planning by the Lick Wilmerding High School’s Gender Sexuality Alliance club (GSA) and Queer Family Network (QFN) culminated in the second annual Miranda Lux Art Fest (MLAX), an winter art showcase and silent auction that has raised over $17,000 for the Transgender Law Center (TLC).
Building off the success of the first MLAX—which was held this past spring and raised $12,441 for the TLC—GSA and QFN have collaborated to expand the event’s reach and impact.
The 2025 winter festival included 174 art submissions, more than triple the number showcased in the spring. These works, created by students, faculty and members of the wider LWHS community, covered a wide range of mediums.
In addition, it featured live music performed by student-led bands Kiss Me Kathleen, The Treblemakers and The Tritones, as well as purchasable jewelry and a button-making station. An estimated 300 people attended, sharing their talents, making donations and spreading joy through the community.Emerging in response to the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the MLAX has served LWHS as a transformative platform for communal activism.
On January 27, 2025, President Donald Trump banned transgender people from serving in the U.S. military. Executive Order 14168, issued seven days earlier, also directed federal agencies to define sex as a fixed binary, barred gender self-identification on federal documents and ended federal support for gender-affirming care.
“MLAX was born in a moment of fear and uncertainty. I felt an overwhelming sense that I needed to transform what I was feeling into action,” Vivienne Nesmith ’26, GSA co-president, said. She worked alongside other student leaders to make this event possible, efforts recognized by Meagan MacPhee, an English teacher who joined both LWHS and GSA as a co-advisor last year.
“This all started as a dream. It was my student leaders who put in absolutely incredible work,” MacPhee said. “They are very committed and just so hardworking.”
The current GSA executive board is made up of co-presidents Nesmith and Maggie Buchholz ’26, vice president Analise Chin ’27, secretary Elissa Caridad ’27, treasurer Artemis Boda ’27, publicity chair Mia Fung ’27 and parent liaison Victoria Sinkler ’26.
Recognizing the privilege of living in a city where transgender rights are protected, organizers of the MLAX chose to donate all proceeds to the TLC, the largest trans-led organization nationwide. The TLC fights legal battles across the country, opposing anti-transgender legislation at both the state and federal levels.
“The Miranda Lux Art Fest is a pledge by the LWHS community to care for individuals both inside and outside our community,” Tony Asaro, LWHS Vocal Music Teacher and GSA’s co-advisor, said.
This fall, continuing attacks on transgender rights nationwide led GSA and QFN leaders to host the festival again, hoping this time to expand its reach and raise even more proceeds. According to the Transgender Legislation Tracker, as of December 6, 2025, 1,014 anti-trans bills have been introduced, seeking to block access to gender affirming healthcare and legal rights.
“The attack on transgender rights is a sustained assault. We are not in a temporary moment that will pass on its own,” Nesmith said.
The choice to host an art festival was influenced by the desire to include all members of the LWHS community. “We needed to make sure that all students and individuals felt welcome, to create a space for activism, but also for joy,” Buchholz said. Anyone could submit artwork of any medium, and the LWHS community responded with overwhelming generosity—both in art submissions and donations.
For Lila Kangelaris ’26, submitting her artwork was an act of civic engagement. “Especially given the current political and economic state of the world right now, I believe that it is extremely important to highlight the voices of those who are being oppressed and targeted,” she said. Kangelaris submitted four paintings, which generated a total of $490.
Other featured artists included Nyara Afshar ’26 and LWHS Drawing and Painting teacher Oleg Osipoff. “Art is extremely powerful when it comes to creating change,” Osipoff said. “It is crucial when it comes to changing people’s hearts and minds.” Afshar donated a drawing, which sold for $120, and Osipoff donated two original etchings, which sold for a total of $370.
“Every artist who donated their work, every person here tonight, every volunteer, is contributing to moving actual resources towards liberation,” Nesmith said in her speech during the MLAX. “We will not stay silent while human dignity is under attack. We believe in another world, one built on care, dignity and the idea that all people deserve to live freely. We are committed to building it, in community, right now.”
