Greetings! My name is Allyson, Gonzalez (she/her), I'm a queer Chicana writer, illustrator, music maker and director in Chicago, IL. Founder of the international holiday Thankyoutine's Day, I encourage you to celebrate often and help spread the word by sending a Thankyoutine today!

Over the last thirteen years, I've served as the Creative Director of the Puppeteers of Color Social, author of the zine Save the Bees Worx, Artistic Conductor of Stand On Your Hands and Clap and facilitator of the Allyson Gonzalez Residency for Art, Science and Cultural Exchange. I've spent over half my life on stage, from tap dancing to shadow puppetry, poetry readings to performance art - theatricalities have always been my biggest passion.
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When the pandemic derailed my retrospective tour, slated to begin in Padua, Italy in the spring of 2020, that closed the door to my decade-long focus on puppetry and opened the window to returning to my roots in publishing. After a successful seven years at TinyLetter, I decided to challenge myself by trying out Substack! Subscribe to FOOD over FUNCTION for comical essays where food stars as a supporting actor to the hapless human condition and Chicago-style hot dog comics. I've also kicked off an electronic music solo act, House of Egregious - you can follow along the journey on instagram @houseofegregious or listen to my sexy doom pop jams on SoundCloud. 

I'm a staunch advocate of artists having day jobs so we can self-fund our own work. I nerd out for a living as a Senior IT Analyst in big law. My favorite hobbies include telescoping and hiking with my husband, instant photography, needlefelting, relief printmaking, playing chess at the beach and all things rave culture. My favorite things to collect are books, bossa nova records, rocks, unspeakables and 7-free nail polish.