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30/11/2000

Day with(out) art

DWA Project, New York

A Day With Artist.

In 1997, Visual AIDS suggested Day Without Art become a Day WITH Art. "We added parentheses to the program title to highlight the proactive programming of art projects by artists living with HIV/AIDS, and art about AIDS, that was taking place across the country," they write. "It had become clear that active interventions within the annual program were far more effective than actions to negate or reduce the programs of cultural centers."

This year Visual AIDS is launching A DAY WITH ARTISTS to commemorate World AIDS Day. A Day With Artists will create educational opportunities for young people in schools to meet with artists living with HIV/AIDS.

"The project will build awareness of HIV/AIDS among a key 'at-risk' population - 50% of all new HIV infections in the United States occur in people under the age of 25, "Visual AIDS explains. "It will focus attention on the achievements of artists living with HIV/AIDS by giving them a platform to show and discuss their work. It will connect young people with contemporary artists fostering discussion of artistic content and process as well as the social and personal conditions that affect artists' work."

Schools may schedule visiting artists for a class period or for a whole day. Museums and galleries can also host events that bring students and HIV-positive artists together for educational activities such as tours, panels, or presentations. Ideally, Day With Artists events will take place on December 1. However, to allow maximum participation, Visual AIDS is expanding the window of the project to run from November 27 to December 8, 2000.

Martha Posner's offering place at Lfayette College:

At Lafayette College in Easton, PA, in observance of World AIDS Day/Day Without Art, artist Martha Posner has been working with Lafayette students and community members to construct OFFERING PLACE, a conical-roofed, circular, hut-like shelter, in the gallery of the Williams Center for the Arts.

Posner's project is informed by cross-cultural examples of the use of fabric ribbons or strips of paper for memorials and messages -- such as Native Americans who have written or "mentally charged" a thought into prayer ties which are hung in special places; Japanese girls who write their wishes on yellow ribbons, which are then hung in trees in a "star ceremony"; yellow ribbons tied on trees as a symbol of hope for peace during the Gulf War; and red ribbons to symbolize concern about AIDS.

"The interior will offer an embracing and private place for visitors. The wall will start as a bare skeleton of fencing material, but will be transformed as cloth strips and ribbons are tightly woven through it, forming a red wall," the project states. "Gallery visitors can write personal notes and remembrances on ribbons and weave these into the walls during the installation."

Posner envisions the work not only as a part of Day (With)out Art/World Arts Day, but also as a place to continue to remember all those touched by AIDS and HIV, including caretakers and families of those who have died of AIDS.

AIDS Memorial quilt displayed across the nation:

DECEMBER 1, 2000 also marks the 13th year of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Since its first unfolding on the National Mall in Washington, DC in October 1987, the Quilt has grown to include 44,000 individual hand-sewn memorial panels - each one commemorating the life of someone who has died of complications related to AIDS.

The Quilt "stands for more than the tens of thousands of people whose names are sewn into the fabric. It stands, as well, for the sorrow, anger, love and hope of people who make panels," The NAMES Project, the non-profit organization that manages the Quilt writes on their website at http://www.aidsquilt.org As the epidemic claims more lives, the Quilt continues to grow. It now commerates more than 83,000 individuals. It is 792,000 square feet, and it would be 50 miles long if all of its 3'x6' panels were laid end to end.

"The Quilt gives those memorialized another presence, another voice, an identifiable place in the cohort of the fallen. The communal act of creating and displaying these quilts also has allowed the bereaved to express their sorrow and demand increased awareness from the community at large," Alexandra Anderson-Spivy, writes in Artery.

Among this year's contributions to the quilt is the U.S. Department of Commerce AIDS Memorial Quilt Panel which was created to honor the lives and contributions of all Commerce employees who have died since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, as well as those living with AIDS today and in the future.

The panel is sewn with white letters on a navy blue field, the official Departmental colors. It contains the official seal of the Department, as well as that of the Commerce Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Employees (GLOBE) organization, which sponsored the creation of the panel. Red ribbons symbolize the tradition of remembrance and hope in the battle against AIDS -- providing solace and strength to all whose lives are touched and transformed by this struggle.

"It acknowledges their lives in public service, their contributions known and unknown, and the friendship and love we hold as their legacies," the Project states.

The Quilt is constantly on display around the world. This year on Day (With)out Art/Words AID's Day, sections of quilt is are on display at: Keene State College, Keene, NH; Saint Michael's College, Colchester, VT; Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL; Bayne Jones Army Community Fort Polk, LA Arkansas Arts Center, in Little Rock, AR; St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Franklin, NC; Metropolitan Community Church in Lubbock, TX; Spencer Museum of Arts in Lawrence, KS; The AIDS Project of Central Iowa, Des Moines, IA; Fort Lewis College Durango, CO; Clark County Health District/ HIV Program, Las Vegas, NV; Metropolitan Community Church of the Redwood Empire Santa Rosa, CA; New Heart MCC, Tacoma, WA and many other places.

Sources/resources:

Visual AIDS - http://www.visualaids.org Those interested in participating in Day With Artists, are invited to contact Visual AIDS 212-627-9855 or visaids@earthlink.net They would be happy to facilitate a presentation by one or more artists.

World AIDS Day 2000 - AIDS: Men make a difference - http://www.avert.org/worldaid.htm

Robert Atkins, Editor - "In Memoriam" - Artery - http://www.artistswithaids.org/artery Visit the site to post events about DWA events for Artery's December 1 issue, which will devoted to activism

The AIDS Memorial Quilt - http://www.aidsquilt.org

AIDSQuilt-DOCEmployees - http://www.doc.gov/ocr/AIDSQuilt.html

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