This is a free event; registration is required. Register here!
In September 1981, the Empty Closet Newspaper reported on new illnesses that were disproportionately affecting gay men in New York City and Los Angeles and noted that doctors in Rochester had been advised to watch for similar cases. The following month, the publication confidently declared “No ‘Gay’ Diseases Here.”
The optimism was premature. Soon patients in Rochester were being sickened by the mysterious new disease that would become known as HIV/AIDS.
Local hospitals and universities attended to medical needs, caring for patients and researching treatments. Meanwhile, community organizations ensured access to care and support by developing innovative approaches to the delivery of health care and social services and launching public information campaigns to educate the public about the virus and combat the stigma that people living with (and, too often, dying from) it faced.
Taking place at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester during the Up Against the Wall: Art, Activism, and the AIDS Poster exhibition on view March 6–June 19, 2022, the 2022 Anthony Mascioli Rainbow Dialogues will explore Rochester’s response to the AIDS crisis from its beginning in 1981 to the present through both local and global lenses.
8:30-9 am — Registration
Coffee and continental breakfast provided
9-9:20 am — Welcome
Jonathan P. Binstock, Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director, Memorial Art Gallery
Christine L. Ridarsky, City Historian and Director of Historical Services, Rochester Public Library
Evelyn Bailey, Historian and Founder, Shoulders to Stand On
9:20-10:30 am — Keynote Address: Viral Visions: Art, Activism, and Epidemiology in the Global AIDS Pandemic
Jackson Davidow, Postdoctoral Fellow, Translating Race Lab, Center for the Humanities, Tufts University
10:30-10:45 am — Break
10:45 am-12:15 pm — Panel Discussion: Living with HIV
12:15-1 pm — Lunch
Boxed lunches will be provided for those who preregister; lunch will also be available for purchase onsite at Brown Hound Downtown located inside the Memorial Art Gallery
1-1:30 pm — The AIDS Poster Collection and Exhibit: An Overview
Jessica Lacher-Feldman, Exhibitions and Special Projects Manager and Curator of the AIDS Poster Collection, University of Rochester Libraries’ Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation
Donald Albrecht, Guest Curator, Up Against the Wall: Art, Activism, and the AIDS Poster exhibition
1:30-3 pm — Exhibition Tour/Film Screening
Pre-register for a guided tour, visit the museum on your own, or view a curated series of short films about HIV/AIDS
3-3:45 pm — Reflections
4-5 pm — Recognition Ceremony
Join Shoulders to Stand On and the Anthony Mascioli Rainbow Dialogues Planning Committee to honor some of the individuals and community organizations that responded to the HIV/AIDS crisis by providing treatment and support for those who have been affected.
For more information, visit www.rainbowdialogues.com.
Presented by the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County and the Out Alliance in partnership with the Memorial Art Gallery and River Campus Libraries. Sponsored by Shoulders to Stand On, Humanities New York, and the Friends & Foundation of the Rochester Public Library.
Free admission to the Memorial Art Gallery for Rainbow Dialogue attendees made possible in part by the LGBT+ Fund for Greater Rochester at Rochester Area Community Foundation.
Jackson Davidow is an art historian, writer, researcher, and educator whose work examines the relationship between art, health, and politics. He earned his Ph.D. in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Art and Architecture from MIT and is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Translating Race Lab at the Center for the Humanities at Tufts University. His keynote address will draw upon research for his dissertation and forthcoming book, Viral Visions: Art, Activism, and Epidemiology in the Global AIDS Pandemic.
