Galas Scholarship applications are now open!
Each year, Galas awards scholarships to support LGBTQ+ Armenians pursuing higher education, creative work, community leadership, and activism. For 2026, we are offering three $1,000 scholarships for students of Armenian descent across different stages of their educational journey.
🌱 Hope Scholarship
For graduating high school seniors with a demonstrated commitment to LGBTQ+ activism and a confirmed plan for higher education.
📚 Academic Scholarship
For students currently enrolled in higher education programs, including university, community college, trade school, certificate, or fellowship programs, who have demonstrated LGBTQ+ activism.
🎨 Nyrie Sevan Gharibian Scholarship
Created in memory of artist, activist, and beloved community member Nyrie S. Gharibian. This scholarship supports students pursuing Arts or Education who have demonstrated LGBTQ+ activism.
Applications close on May 23, 2025 at 11:59 PM PST.
Please share this opportunity with anyone who may be eligible. Application link in bio. Questions can be directed to [email protected]
Galas is expanding.
We’re currently seeking new Board Members to support the next phase of our work, with a focus on institutional funding, grant acquisition, donor stewardship, and marketing/design.
This is an opportunity to play an active role in shaping our programs, strengthening our operations, and supporting culturally responsive work within our community.
If this feels aligned, we encourage you to apply through the link in our bio and include a resume or CV.
Applications close Sunday, June 4 at 11:59 PM.
Session Six - Wikipedia Edit-a-thon with Dr. Lilit Keshishyan @liloland (Part II)
We invite you to the final session of Ejanish Spring 2026 as we come together for a collaborative evening of editing, reflection, and shared knowledge-building. Building on Part I, this session centers on contributing directly to Armenian literary representation online.
Guided by Dr. Lilit Keshishyan from the USC Writing Program and USC Institute of Armenian Studies, we’ll focus on reading Anna Davtyan’s Wikipedia article translating it into English, adding citations, and offering new additions to strengthen and expand the entry. This session is perfect for anyone excited to apply what they’ve learned, contribute to collective knowledge, and close out the season in community.
This two-part series is supported by a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation Rapid Fund.
Admission is free, and no commitment is required. RSVP links in our bio.
📚 Date: Wednesday, Apr 22 🕖 Time: Gathering at 6:30 PM - Starting at 7:00 PM 📍 Location: Sooki Studio @sooki__studio Los Angeles, CA
Soorj Session is heading to a cozy, private residence for a more intimate gathering. To keep the space safe and intentional, we ask that all attendees RSVP in advance — the address will be shared after you sign up.
What are Soorj Sessions?
They’re guided roundtable conversations created for LGBTQ+ Armenians, their families, and friends — spaces to build understanding, foster connection, and explore what acceptance can look like in our communities.
This is for you if:
- you’re considering coming out to loved ones
- a friend or family member recently came out to you
- you’re a parent or guardian of an LGBTQ+ child
- you’re LGBTQ+ and want to bring your parent(s) to a safe space
- you’re an ally with wisdom or support to share
- you’re eager to be part of a thoughtful conversation on LGBTQ+ Armenian experiences
☕️ For the privacy of our community, the address will be shared after RSVP.
🧒 If you’re under 18, a parent or legal guardian must attend with you.
Date: Saturday, 4/25/2026
Time: 11 AM
Location: La Crescenta, CA
Make sure to RSVP for the location, you know where to find the 🔗!
Session Five - Wikipedia Edit-a-thon with Dr. Lilit Keshishyan (Part I)
Join us for an evening of collective learning and knowledge-building through our first Wikipedia edit-a-thon session. Led by Dr. Lilit Keshishyan from the USC Writing Program and USC Institute of Armenian Studies, we’ll begin with a warm-up introducing Wikipedia basics and opening conversation around representation and access.
Together, we’ll read Armenian-language articles by authors like Zabel Yesayan, translate excerpts into English, and reflect on what’s missing or underrepresented. Participants will also begin contributing by adding citations and edits to articles such as Anna Davtyan’s. This session is perfect for anyone interested in Armenian literature, translation, and contributing to shared knowledge. No prior experience required.
This two-part series is supported by a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation Rapid Fund.
Admission is free, and no commitment is required. RSVP links in our bio.
📚 Date: Wednesday, Apr 8 🕖 Time: Gathering at 6:30 PM - Starting at 7:00 PM 📍 Location: Sooki Studio @sooki__studio Los Angeles, CA
Galas Film Night Volume 2 was filled with art, dialogue, and community. Thank you to everyone who came out and made it so special. The conversations, films, and energy in the room reminded us why these spaces matter so deeply. 💜
A special thank you to @akbarsilverlake for generously hosting us (for free!) and to our co-curators Lia Soorenian @liasoorenian & Anahid Yahjian @medullacreative for shaping such a thoughtful program. And of course, deepest gratitude to the filmmakers who shared their work with us: Asha Shahinian @asha_shah0318 , Lousine Shamamian @lousarev , Raffi Wartanian @raffijoe , Kamee Abrahamian @29cents , Mischa Badasyan @mischabadasyan , Alexandra Kononchenko @kononchenko , lee williams boudakian @veedon_lee , Emily Mkrtichian @emilymkrtichian , Anahid Yahjian @medullacreative . Your films sparked the dialogue and connection that carried through the whole night.
We’ve already had so many folks asking about the next one… and yes, we’re working on curating Galas Film Night Volume 3! Stay tuned for details 👀
We’re a volunteer-run organization, and we rely on community support to consistently curate cultural programs like Galas Film Night, Ejanish, Soorj Session, and Queernissage. If you’d like to help us continue creating spaces for queer and trans Armenian storytelling and beyond, please consider making a donation. Every contribution makes a difference. 💜 Link in bio.
Session Four: Exploring Gender-Nonconforming Identities
Join us for an evening exploring gender-nonconforming identities through art, history, and cultural reflection. We’ll read about a nonbinary art installation at the Yerevan Modern Art Museum, using it as a starting point to think through how gender exists across time, place, and culture. Together, we’ll reflect on identity beyond binaries and consider how these narratives have been expressed and understood in different contexts. This session is perfect for anyone curious about gender diversity, cultural history, and collective conversation.
Admission is free, and no commitment is required. RSVP links in our bio.
📚 Date: Wednesday, Mar 25
🕖 Time: Gathering at 6:30 PM - Starting at 7:00 PM
📍 Location: Sooki Studio @sooki__studio Los Angeles, CA
🎬 Galas Film Night: Filmmaker Spotlight 🎬
Join us on Saturday, March 14 at 6:30 PM for an evening at Akbar Silverlake featuring Raffi Joe Wartanian @raffijoe , a writer, musician, and educator who teaches at UCLA and serves as the inaugural Poet Laureate of Glendale, California. His multidisciplinary practice spans poetry, music, and storytelling, with work performed and shared internationally.
✨ Screening Highlight: Now I Can Speak (2014) - This intimate portrait follows writer Lousine Shamamian @lousarev as she finds her voice within New York City’s comedy and literary scenes. Through performance and reflection, the film traces a journey shaped by culture, silence, and self-discovery.
📍 Akbar Silverlake @akbarsilverlake 4356 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029
🎟 Admission is free. RSVP at the link in bio.
🎬 Galas Film Night: Filmmaker Spotlight 🎬
Join us on Saturday, March 14 at 6:30 PM for an evening at Akbar Silverlake featuring Mischa Badasyan @mischabadasyan , a multidisciplinary artist whose work is shaped by activism, performance, and deeply personal explorations of identity, body, and environment. With roots in political science and social work, their practice challenges traditional forms by positioning the self as both medium and message.
✨ Screening Highlight: Tsovinar (2023) - A striking reimagining of the Armenian goddess of water, sea, and rain, Tsovinar merges mythology with contemporary landscapes. Set between river, city, and sound, the film subverts gender and tradition, offering a powerful, fluid vision of embodiment, nature, and resistance.
📍 Akbar Silverlake @akbarsilverlake 4356 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029
🎟 Admission is free. RSVP at the link in bio.
🎬 Galas Film Night: Filmmaker Spotlight 🎬
Join us on Saturday, March 14 at 6:30 PM for an evening at Akbar Silverlake featuring Lousine Shamamian @lousarev , an Emmy-nominated editor whose 25-year career spans narrative, reality, and documentary television. A former Galas board member and proud New Yorker born in Soviet Armenia, Lousine brings humor, heart, and lived experience into her storytelling as she enters a new chapter pursuing social work.
✨ Screening Highlight: Lousine : Lesbian Matchmaker to the Straights - Coming Out Episode (2014) - Lousine brings her client Sonia to her family home, where she decides to have an important conversation with her mom.
📍 Akbar Silverlake 4356 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029
🎟 Admission is free. RSVP at the link in bio.
🎬 Galas Film Night: Filmmaker Spotlight 🎬
Join us on Saturday, March 14 at 6:30 PM for an evening at Akbar Silverlake featuring filmmakers Anahid Yahjian @medullacreative , Emily Mkrtichian @emilymkrtichian , Kamee Abrahamian @29cents and lee Williams Boudakian @veedon_lee , whose interdisciplinary practices span experimental cinema, documentary, and narrative storytelling rooted in memory, identity, and radical imagination.
✨ Screening Highlight: Transmission (2019) - In a not-so-distant future shaped by authoritarian control, two cultural conservationists are torn apart by a tragic accident that fractures time into parallel realities. As each navigates a world where the other no longer exists, they search across dimensions for reunion. A haunting meditation on love, loss, and the persistence of connection.
📍 Akbar Silverlake @akbarsilverlake 4356 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029
🎟 Admission is free. RSVP at the link in bio.
🎬 Galas Film Night: Filmmaker Spotlight 🎬
Join us on Saturday, March 14 at 6:30 PM for an evening at Akbar Silverlake featuring interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker Kamee Abrahamian @29cents , whose work bridges film, performance, and community organizing to explore diasporic futurism, ancestral reclamation, and collective justice. Their practice is deeply collaborative, visionary, and rooted in building liberatory worlds.
✨ Screening Highlight: Symptom (2024) Set against the backdrop of Yerevan’s post-Soviet underground scene, two young Armenian women form an experimental electronica band navigating state violence, sexism, and homophobia. As the Velvet Revolution unfolds, their music and resistance collide in a powerful portrait of art, defiance, and political awakening.
📍 Akbar Silverlake @akbarsilverlake 4356 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029
🎟 Admission is free. RSVP at the link in bio.
