Medicine, politics, art, activism, sex, culture—everything in the US changed after the first reports of a mysterious illness in 1981. In the face of intense fear, repression, and prejudice, brave activists took to the streets in protest while enduring great loss; their goal was to create change, and ultimately, find compassion for the suffering and departed. This panel of an ACT-UP Chicago founder, artists, activists, scholars, and medical and museum professionals will discuss the response to HIV/AIDS at the height of the crisis, how it relates to today, and how it informs their work.
The panel will feature Dr. Renslow Sherer, Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago; Robert Vazquez-Pacheco, artist and member of Gran Fury; Peter Carpenter, Independent Choreographer and Associate Professor at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago; Mary Patten founding member of ACT UP Chicago and Professor in the Film, Video, New Media, and Animation Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Jeanne Kracher, Executive Director Crossroads Fund; and Stephanie Stebich, Executive Director, Tacoma Art Museum. The panel will be moderated by Lora Branch, long-time Public Health Advocate. Chicago-based Defibrillator Gallery Director Joseph Ravens presents Condom Cloud. Free and open to the public.