The Darby Project: LGBTQIA cosmetology students
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The Darby Project: A scholarship to support LGBTQIA+ cosmetology students
#thedarbyprojectLGBTQ
#thedarbyprojectLGBTQ
On behalf of Darby's biological and White Room families, we celebrate Darby's life by making it possible for kids from the LGBTQIA+ community to go to cosmetology school. Darby found his friends, his community, his passion and his future after attending Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute Minneapolis and was a proud member of a special group of people who were part of or allies of the LGBTQIA+ community in NYC. By contributing to the cost of attendance, living expenses, or other types of aid, his legacy will make a difference in the lives of young people pursuing their dreams. Be assured that 100% of the amount collected will go towards helping as many young people as we can.
We gratefully appreciate your contribution to making this a reality. A $500,000 endowment will allow us to have approximately $20K per year to distribute in aid. A big goal, but attainable.
Darby Joseph Backes passed away in his sleep on January 5th, 2022 after a short unknown illness. Loved deeply and mourned by many in Minneapolis, New York City, Los Angeles and beyond, his passing at the unimaginable age of 30 invites us to celebrate and reflect on the life of a loving son, fierce friend and trusted hairstylist.
Darby was born in the springtime in Minnesota, where he grew up playing hockey, basketball, and baseball in Savage. The youngest child of Brian and Diane, he was brought up with the midwestern big-heartedness and strong work ethic he carried throughout his life. The love cultivated within his family formed the foundation for his radiant personality and the gift he had for making others feel comfortable and included. He was known to many as the happiest kid with the biggest smile, and his high school friends remember how he went out of his way to connect with different groups and cliques. Darby was the life of the party, and he was voted “Most Likely to Be Famous” alongside his best friend Haley by their classmates. After graduating from Burnsville High in 2009, he enrolled in the Aveda Beauty School of Minneapolis, where he excelled in both the precision and creativity necessary for great hairstyling. At his graduation in 2013, his instructor pulled his parents aside and told them Darby’s talent was the type that could affect societal change.
Shortly after graduating from Aveda, Darby took his talents to New York City, arriving in September 2013 with two suitcases, a few hundred dollars, and a one-month sublet. He went door-to-door handing out resumes and quickly found work at Mizu salon on Park Avenue, marking the start of his illustrious 8-year career in hair in NYC. Darby built a loyal following of clients as well as strong friendships with many of his coworkers at Mizu, while exploring and falling in love with the city he would come to call home. In 2017 he moved his career to Brooklyn, where he would eventually rise to the rank of senior stylist at Whiteroom in Williamsburg. Darby was passionate about making people feel beautiful and loved to help his clients express their identities and perspectives through cut, color, style and texture. A stickler for technique, he strived for perfection in his craft and truly treated it as an art form. As a highly social person, he thrived when he was able to maintain genuine connections with his clients and kept hundreds of them coming back again and again.
In addition to building an impressive, celebrity-studded client roster at Whiteroom, he also taught classes on haircutting, gave free and discounted haircuts to the LGBTQ community, and donated his tips once a year to Transgender affirming surgery funds. As a gay man in New York, Darby was passionate about the queer community and was an active member of many party scenes and social groups. On his days off he hosted intimate gatherings at his apartment with his sweet dog Dagger or organized trips to the landmark queer destination Jacob Riis Beach, for which he also made and designed his own swimwear. He also created his own costumes for dozens of events, where he brought his trademark attention to detail and often stood out for his cohesive and glamorous looks. Armed with his trusty Polaroid camera, he documented everything from simple subway rides to the biggest and most fabulous rooftop parties, immortalizing his wild nights in countless snapshots. Behind all the glitz and glitter he sought to develop true friendships and assembled a queer family in New York and beyond that, he often referenced with love and admiration. He built a community by introducing a diverse group of people to each other and saw something exceptional in each of the friends he brought together. His New York friends fondly remember his obsessions with astrology, pop music, and drag culture as well as his undying love for his energetic puppy. An ebullient, free spirit, he was loyally supportive of his inner circle, never judged, and always operated with forgiveness in his heart. Darby’s door was always open.
In the last year of his life, Darby often expressed that he had reached every goal he’d made for himself to achieve by age 30 – he had his own apartment, was financially independent, had a dog, a group of truly close friends, and had risen to a high rank in his career. He left this world having accomplished his dreams and was ready to tackle a set of new ones surrounded by the people who loved him most. Darby leaves behind his parents, his brother Nick, his dog Dagger, and a whole host of friends and clients whose lives were touched and changed by him, grateful we had a chance to bask in his magic.
Darby Joseph Backes passed away in his sleep on January 5th, 2022 after a short unknown illness. Loved deeply and mourned by many in Minneapolis, New York City, Los Angeles and beyond, his passing at the unimaginable age of 30 invites us to celebrate and reflect on the life of a loving son, fierce friend and trusted hairstylist.
Darby was born in the springtime in Minnesota, where he grew up playing hockey, basketball, and baseball in Savage. The youngest child of Brian and Diane, he was brought up with the midwestern big-heartedness and strong work ethic he carried throughout his life. The love cultivated within his family formed the foundation for his radiant personality and the gift he had for making others feel comfortable and included. He was known to many as the happiest kid with the biggest smile, and his high school friends remember how he went out of his way to connect with different groups and cliques. Darby was the life of the party, and he was voted “Most Likely to Be Famous” alongside his best friend Haley by their classmates. After graduating from Burnsville High in 2009, he enrolled in the Aveda Beauty School of Minneapolis, where he excelled in both the precision and creativity necessary for great hairstyling. At his graduation in 2013, his instructor pulled his parents aside and told them Darby’s talent was the type that could affect societal change.
Shortly after graduating from Aveda, Darby took his talents to New York City, arriving in September 2013 with two suitcases, a few hundred dollars, and a one-month sublet. He went door-to-door handing out resumes and quickly found work at Mizu salon on Park Avenue, marking the start of his illustrious 8-year career in hair in NYC. Darby built a loyal following of clients as well as strong friendships with many of his coworkers at Mizu, while exploring and falling in love with the city he would come to call home. In 2017 he moved his career to Brooklyn, where he would eventually rise to the rank of senior stylist at Whiteroom in Williamsburg. Darby was passionate about making people feel beautiful and loved to help his clients express their identities and perspectives through cut, color, style and texture. A stickler for technique, he strived for perfection in his craft and truly treated it as an art form. As a highly social person, he thrived when he was able to maintain genuine connections with his clients and kept hundreds of them coming back again and again.
In addition to building an impressive, celebrity-studded client roster at Whiteroom, he also taught classes on haircutting, gave free and discounted haircuts to the LGBTQ community, and donated his tips once a year to Transgender affirming surgery funds. As a gay man in New York, Darby was passionate about the queer community and was an active member of many party scenes and social groups. On his days off he hosted intimate gatherings at his apartment with his sweet dog Dagger or organized trips to the landmark queer destination Jacob Riis Beach, for which he also made and designed his own swimwear. He also created his own costumes for dozens of events, where he brought his trademark attention to detail and often stood out for his cohesive and glamorous looks. Armed with his trusty Polaroid camera, he documented everything from simple subway rides to the biggest and most fabulous rooftop parties, immortalizing his wild nights in countless snapshots. Behind all the glitz and glitter he sought to develop true friendships and assembled a queer family in New York and beyond that, he often referenced with love and admiration. He built a community by introducing a diverse group of people to each other and saw something exceptional in each of the friends he brought together. His New York friends fondly remember his obsessions with astrology, pop music, and drag culture as well as his undying love for his energetic puppy. An ebullient, free spirit, he was loyally supportive of his inner circle, never judged, and always operated with forgiveness in his heart. Darby’s door was always open.
In the last year of his life, Darby often expressed that he had reached every goal he’d made for himself to achieve by age 30 – he had his own apartment, was financially independent, had a dog, a group of truly close friends, and had risen to a high rank in his career. He left this world having accomplished his dreams and was ready to tackle a set of new ones surrounded by the people who loved him most. Darby leaves behind his parents, his brother Nick, his dog Dagger, and a whole host of friends and clients whose lives were touched and changed by him, grateful we had a chance to bask in his magic.
Organizer and beneficiary
Andrea Backes
Organizer
St. Paul, MN
Diane Backes
Beneficiary