The Friends of Janie Martinez Announce Memorial Celebration For The Late Actress & Body Positivity Activist

The Friends of Janie Martinez Executive Council present: Janie Martinez Life Celebration Memorial to honor her life and work. The evening will feature tribute performances by: Kira, Suzan Perry, Nilsa Reyna, Bryn Packard, and others. The celebration will take place on September 7, 2019, from 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm at El Cortez in Bushwick, located at 17 Ingraham Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206. Tickets are free, but an RSVP is highly recommended as space is limited. Please guarantee your seat at: Janie Martinez Life Celebration Memorial, Pioneer of Body Positivity Icon Eventbrite.

"It is not the size of your body that matters, but the size of your heart."

Fearless icon of size and body positivity activist/influencer, Janie Martinez, passed away in New York City in the early morning hours of July 25, 2019, surrounded by friends and her long time partner, Frank. Janie was a total artist- an actress, singer, dancer, model, mermaid, and force of nature and love. Her framily (friends and family) mourns the loss of their dear friend.

She is loved for her bravery, her defiant demonstration that any body, especially one of size can be brilliant, beautiful, and bold. She gave no f#%^& and showed fearlessness in the size acceptance movement, paving the way for others to follow on their journey of loving themselves and others.

Part of her legacy is to encourage and inspire others, especially her sisters of size. We use this time to remind all to have courage in getting yearly gynecological and reproductive health checks and yearly mammograms. In Janie's words, "Just go and get checked out, damn it!"

*For more about Janie's life in her own words, please listen to the Are You Famous Yet? podcast with Jake and Laura Scruggs at: Naked and Fearless with Janie Martinez - Episode 17 remastered.

Janie Martinez Bio: (June 19, 1973 - July 25, 2019) was a featured actress in John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus and Steven Shainberg's Fur-An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus. She was also featured in segments of The Today Show with Al Roker, Seoul Broadcasting in Korea, ARD Television in Germany, Pa'lante Con Christina on NBC/Telemundo, and on Les Franc Tireurs on Télé-Québec. Most recently she performed in The Training (Theater Breaking Through Barriers), Topload (Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company) and Fresh Meat: Prime Cuts (NYC Playwrights). She also performed avant cabaret acts around NYC, such as The Globesity Festival and in 365 Days/365 Plays at The Public Theatre. She was the Artistic Director for Big Moves New York, a dance company that promotes size acceptance through dancing, which was featured at the KEIGWIN Kabaret with the Keigwin + Company. She toured internationally with her critically acclaimed one woman show Fat Chicks Go to Hell.

She modeled for the pages of Sinister Wisdom, which was also featured in The Smithsonian Museum, Adipositivity, The Imagista, The Collective Mag, Details Magazine, TimeOut NY, ID Magazine, New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the annual "Big Fat Flea" to help promote and collect donations in all plus sizes for all genders.

Directing credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Fools and Kings Project), Punk Grandpa (FRIGID New York Festival). In her earlier days in New York, she worked as the Wardrobe Supervisor on the original Off-Broadway production of Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize winning How I Learned to Drive (NYC-LA) and as the Costume Supervisor/Designer on De La Guarda's Villa Villa (NYC-London).

Perhaps best known for winning the 2010 Coney Island Mermaid Parade, as part of a duo called Fatty Tuna Roll on her 37th birthday, she was crowned by King Neptune Lou Reed and Queen Laurie Anderson as Best Mermaids.

"We're here with every kind of beautiful freak that is out there, just having a good time, enjoying the sun, and it's just a nice little community to be a part of," Martinez said to Stephen Nessen, Reporter of WNYC News in Oil Spills and Sea Shells: 2010 Coney Island Mermaid Parade.