While most now know that AIDS is not a “gay disease,” in the early days of the AIDS epidemic that surely seemed to be true. Thirty years ago the first reported AIDS cases were all gay men, and as the numbers of people with HIV and AIDS grew, communities of gay men continued to be disproportionately affected. Among them were thousands of visual and performing artists – some well known such as Keith Haring and Michael Bennett and many, many more whose talents were just emerging and may only have been known to a few. During the past 30 years, AIDS has devastated the arts industry… locally, nationally and globally. No other industry has suffered the depth or volume of loss to this disease as our arts and cultural institutions.
This panel discussion will offer a unique perspective of the impact of AIDS on the local and national arts community. What would the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s gallery look like today were it not for AIDS? How many brilliant, but now unknown, artists might be in this collection now?