January Volunteer Update
This post was written by Kate, a student intern at Art for AIDS International.
Maintaining a non-profit organization and helping it grow is not an easy task. On Thursday January 20th, Art for AIDS International held its monthly volunteer meeting and brainstorming session. It was a round-table discussion with twenty of Art for AIDS’s enthusiastic volunteers. Led by Hendrikus Bervoets, the meeting was focused on encouraging volunteers to bring passion to individual projects in support for the organization. Upon reflection, Hendrikus reiterated that the volunteers are the backbone of Art for AIDS International. Not only do they dedicate time, energy and funds to the organization, they also bring vibrant ideas and innovation. This vigor keeps Art for AIDS International growing and visible in the community. Thank you to all of the volunteers that attended on Thursday. Your commitment to the organization and social change is inspiring. Use your individuality, creativity and passion to spread the mission and work of Art for AIDS International. Let’s continue to work together to achieve our goals!
Top 10 HIV/AIDS News Stories from 2010: A Year in Review
Sections from this post were originally published online by the humanitarian news and analysis service, IRIN, and PlusNews. To view the original article, please visit PlusNews's article: HIV/AIDS: Top 10 for 2010
This has been an exciting year for the fight against HIV, with dramatic developments in biomedical HIV prevention and a record five million people receiving life-prolonging treatment. It has also been a year fraught with funding difficulties and the continued discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS and other marginalized groups. Last week PlusNews released the top 10 stories from 2010. While all of us at Art for AIDS have been following these developments closely, it is unlikely that we would have been able to list them so succinctly; thankfully PlusNews has already done a wonderful job. Please read through, comment, and let us know if you feel a story was missed!
Microbicide breakthrough - After years of disappointing results, this year saw the first clinical evidence that a vaginal gel - known as a microbicide - could help to prevent sexual transmission of HIV. Such a preventative tool in the hands of women would radically reduce the level of new infections, analysts say.
ARVs for prevention - A new study found that daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) - the use of ARVs to prevent HIV in high-risk groups - reduced HIV infection risk among participants who took the ARV Truvada by an average 43.8 percent.
Art for AIDS Foursquare Special!
Art for AIDS International is now on Foursquare! To encourage everyone to stop by our gallery we have decided to offer 5 dollars off any print for first time check-ins on Foursquare. All you have to do is come to our gallery, sign in to your Foursquare account using your mobile phone and show one of our staff members or volunteers.
To learn more about Foursquare, visit: http://foursquare.com/
Or to check out Art for AIDS International's venue page, please click the button below!
Art for AIDS International at the Four Seasons Vancouver on October 5th and 6th!
On October 5th and 6th, help Art for AIDS International continue to create change for women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa by attending an incredible exhibition and workshop series at the Four Season's Hotel in Vancouver.
The workshop, which will take place on October 5th from 1:00 to 4:30pm at the Four Seasons, will give you first hand experience learning about, and participating in, creating art to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS. Educators looking to expand their own knowledge of the subject, or who are interested in bringing Art for AIDS to their school should definitely attend!
This workshop will be followed by the opening of a wonderful new Art for AIDS International exhibit on October 6th, featuring new artwork made by students from Canada, as well as various countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This work is all available for sale with proceeds benefiting organizations working with women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.
The goal of these events is to let you experience the thrill of a workshop and learn from Hendrikus about his work and how you can become involved, as an owner of their art, a corporate sponsor, a host for a workshop or a supporter in some other way.Read more
"Jogging" in Jeju for Art for AIDS
On June 13, 2010, longtime Art for AIDS volunteer Alex Rathy, now working full time in Suncheon South Korea, completed his first marathon on the beautiful island of Jeju to raise funds and awareness for Art for AIDS International. All of us at Art for AIDS would like to sincerely thank and congratulate Alex for completing this arduous journey and for continuing to be a dedicated part of our organization. Further, we would like to thank Alex for raising over CAD $500 which we will use to further our work, and the work of our partners on the ground in Southern Africa working with women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.Please continue reading below to learn about what inspired Alex to run a marathon for Art for AIDS and spend some time thinking about what you could do to support organizations working to improve the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS in your own community or abroad.Read moreGetting Ready for the Gladstone Hotel Exhibit
It seems odd in retrospect that after almost a decade of hosting exhibits and workshops with students throughout Ontario and around the world, that we have never hosted an exhibition in Toronto (despite the incredible support we have received from local schools and individuals). To rectify this we have been working hard to ensure that 2010 will see no shortage of activity in the greater Toronto area. The first of what will be many events on the horizon will open this Friday, April 9th, at the famous Gladstone Hotel on Queen Street West in Toronto. Located in their second story gallery, this exhibit will feature 25 works of art made by internationally recognized artists from Africa, North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia as part of Art for AIDS' International Portfolio. This work is exhibited alongside 40 unique works of art made by students from Canada, Uganda, South Africa, Mozambique, and the Netherlands.
We finalized hanging the exhibit yesterday and it will be available to view from today until next Sunday when the exhibit will be taken down. Regular hours during the week will be 9 until 3 and the official opening will occur this Friday from 7PM until 10 PM.
We strongly encourage everyone to come out and enjoy the opening, learn more about Art for AIDS, and, if you are so inclined, purchase a piece of art. The student prints will be available for $75 each framed and the international portfolio pieces will be sold individually for $550 each.
All of the proceeds from the sale of this work will be directed grassroots civil society organizations that assist women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past Art for AIDS International has worked with and contributed to a number of inspiring organizations in South Africa, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.
Just in case anyone wanted a sneak peak of the exhibit, or if you are unable to attend I thought I would attach a photo.
As I mentioned above, the Gladstone is only the first of many upcoming events in the Toronto area. To find out about events in Toronto or elsewhere in the world, please visit our website at www.artforaidsinternational.org, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter by following the links to the right of this post!
The next exhibition will be hosted in the Steam Whistle Brewery this summer for an entire month. Please check back soon for more details.
We hope to see you all this Friday!
The Gladstone Hotel is located at 1214 Queen Street West, in Toronto between Ossington and Duffern.
For more details contact us at [email protected]
Art for AIDS Apartheid Museum Opening: The day has come!
Tomorrow marks a milestone for Art for AIDS International! Hendrikus Bervoets, founder of Art for Aids International, will be on his way to an incredibly busy two weeks in Johannesburg, South Africa. South Africa was the original African connection for Art for Aids International making it truly inspiring that after six years of hard work and patient perseverance, Art for AIDS is opening an exhibit at arguably the most important and certainly the most popular museum in South Africa, The Apartheid Museum. CONGRATULATIONS HENDRIKUS! For more information about what Art for AIDS International will be doing in South Africa, CLICK HERE!
The Art for AIDS Gallery- A Transformation of Space
By Daisy Oliver
(Art for AIDS volunteer coordinator)
It’ s hard to believe, that only one year ago, the gallery and venue of Art for Aids International, was nothing but a frumpy storage space. Now, as witnessed on its successful October 1, 2009 First Anniversary Opening, the space beautifully boasts the original and diverse artwork of the ever evolving Art for AIDS organization.
There is extraordinary power in a creative act that can transform something ugly into a thing of beauty. Art for AIDS International has been built upon this philosophical cornerstone.
One of its defining qualities is its ability to transform the political and moral ugliness of the AIDS pandemic into artistic statements of beauty and hope as represented in its Kids for Kids collage prints. It is, therefore, somehow fitting that the same philosophy was used in finding a physical space for our organization.
Art for AIDS International opened its new gallery in the lower level at 242 Dundas Street at the end of September 2008. The opening on Sept 26th was the culmination of a long tedious process of reclaiming a derelict and very ugly space and changing it into an oasis of serenity and beauty.
The new gallery represents a stunning achievement of creative transformation on the part of Hendrikus Bervoets, CEO of the organization and his son Jean Paul Bervoets.
Hendrikus and Jp had been searching for some time for a potential space into which Art for AIDS could move. Its ever expanding inventory of Kids for Kids prints had outgrown the basement office in the Bervoets’ home. Art for AIDS needed a larger space but the cost was a critical factor since the organization is non-profit. This meant looking at places others would consider unrentable. Consequently, it also meant copious amounts of searching.
In the late winter and early spring of 2008, the Bervoets’ found a place in the basement of a building on Dundas Street, in London, Ontario, that held promise. The site had not been used for anything other than storage in decades. It was dank, dark, and stank from mold and damp. There were no lights and no plumbing. But Hendrikus, with his refined artist’s eye, saw the latent potential of the place beyond the refuse and the rubble. It just needed some work to fix it up.
There then began a 6 month joint renovation project between the landlord, his contractors, and Hendrikus himself and whatever volunteers he could muster up to help. Ceiling tiles were taken down and hundreds of clumps of glue individually chipped off, marble floors scrapped clean of old paint, new wiring and plumbing installed, everything painted from top to bottom, new shelving and fixtures installed, new doors added. Hendrikus did much of the grunt work himself always fuelled by an inner vision of what could be. Turning something ugly into something beautiful often involves just a lot of plain old-fashioned hard, dirty work and a dream.
When you come into the Gallery now, you will see white walls highlighting the Art for AIDS prints that are softly lit with track lighting. You will see our beautiful marble floors polished to a soft gleam. At the end of the Gallery, set against a bright red wall, is a handmade receptionist’s desk over which hangs a stained glass representation of the Art for AIDS International logo.
Since its opening, the Gallery has been used for board meetings, for student events, for art workshops, for corporate luncheons and even concerts. It has become a downtown oasis for creative activity and a fun place to come visit.
The Gallery is open from Tuesday to Friday, 11am to 6 pm and on Saturdays, noon to 4 pm. We welcome visitors to come and see our wonderful space and browse our art collection. Don’t take my word on it; experience the radical transformation for yourself!