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Press release from the AIDS Task Force:<\/p>\n
AIDS Task Force announces 25th anniversary events<\/strong><\/p>\n
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The AIDS Task Force of northeast Indiana announced today a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the agency’s March 1985 founding. The seven-month series of art, theatre, music, and education events is a collaboration between the AIDS Task Force and local arts and education organizations.<\/p>\n
The AIDS Task Force is the oldest AIDS Service Organization in the State of Indiana and serves 11 counties in northeast Indiana. It provides case management services for over 350 HIV positive individuals and offers prevention education programming to more than 8,000 residents annually.<\/p>\n
The 25th anniversary commemoration includes 14 initial partner agencies and groups and will expand to other community groups throughout the October to May period. Arts and education groups have added an AIDS-related event to their seasons to mark the quarter century service of the AIDS Task Force in northeast Indiana. The first mention of the new disease by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention was made nearly 30 years ago in June 1981.<\/p>\n
Among events to be undertaken during the period are plays, visual art exhibits, film, dance performances, lectures, panel discussions, and choral and instrumental music.<\/p>\n
The AIDS Task Force is preparing a community resource packet to be available in October. The resource packet will provide community groups with ideas about how to mark the continuing presence of AIDS in northeast Indiana and the world. Packets will be mailed to many schools and churches and will be available by request from the AIDS Task Force office in mid October.<\/p>\n
According to Gregory Manifold, executive director of the AIDS Task Force, “Many people think AIDS is no longer a problem. But this disease continues to infect new people, including too many young people. And far too many of those who are already HIV-positive face a daily challenge to ensure food, housing, and health care for themselves and their families. These anniversary events are a significant way to remind Fort Wayne and northeast Indiana residents that the struggle with AIDS is not over.”<\/p>\n
Detailed information about 25th anniversary events is available at the AIDS Task Force web site, by clicking on 25th Anniversary.<\/p>\n
AIDS Task Force, Inc.
\n25TH Anniversary Commemoration
\nConfirmed events<\/strong><\/p>\nOctober 2009 to May 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n
2009<\/strong><\/p>\n
Fort Wayne Civic Theatre<\/strong>
\nQuilt – A Musical Celebration (Rated PG)
\nOctober 2nd to 18th, 2009
\nAllen County Public Library – A Civic Off-Main Production
\n260.422.8641, Box office 260.424.5220, website<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Few who have seen the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt can forget the experience or the emotions\u00c2\u00a0evoked by the patchwork of panels celebrating the memory of friends and family who died of this disease. \u00c2\u00a0Written in the 1980s as the Quilt was getting started, this series of stories is threaded together by a\u00c2\u00a0volunteer’s experience while making a Quilt panel in memory of a friend.<\/p>\n
Artlink<\/strong>
\nMini AIDS Quilt Exhibit
\nOctober 2nd – December 2nd, 2009
\nArtlink’s Push Pin Gallery (formerly the Hallway Gallery), 437 East Berry Street, Fort Wayne
\n260.424.7195, website<\/a><\/p>\nArtists created small unframed works that pertain to the subject of AIDS through artistic commentary or\u00c2\u00a0commemoration. For the public opening of the Mini AIDS Quilt Exhibit on October 2, Artlink and the Civic\u00c2\u00a0Theatre are partnering to include the cast and crew of Quilt – A Musical Celebration in the party that begins\u00c2\u00a0at 9:00 p.m. and lasts until 11:30.<\/p>\n
Fort Wayne Ballet
\nDirector’s Choice
\nOctober 2nd & 3rd, 8:p.m.
\nArts United Center
\n260.484.9646, website<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nAt this performance, Fort Wayne Ballet recognizes the anniversary of the AIDS Task Force and includes in\u00c2\u00a0its playbill a listing in memory of the dance talent that has been lost to AIDS.<\/p>\n
21st Annual Gay Lesbian Dinner Dance<\/strong>
\nOctober 3rd
\nGrand Wayne Convention Center
\n260.744.1144 (AIDS Task Force office), website<\/p>\nThe Dinner Dance Committee helps kick off 25th Anniversary events with a social event that includes a
\npatron reception hosted by Mayor Henry, an elegant dinner, both live and silent auctions, and an evening of
\ndancing. Special guest Billy Bean, the gay former major league baseball player, adds extra class to the
\ndinner dance and anniversary kickoff.<\/p>\nIPFW<\/strong>
\nOmnibus Lecture Series – Andrew Sullivan, “Friendship: The Forgotten Relationship”
\nNovember 10th, 7:30 p.m.
\nAuer Performance Hall, Rhinehart Music Center
\nNo tickets required. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., website<\/p>\nAndrew Sullivan is senior editor and blogger at The Atlantic and one of the most provocative political and
\nsocial commentators today. He uses his columns, online blog, and frequent television appearances to
\nquestion the present course of conservatism in America. He is the author of several books, including
\nVirtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality (1996).<\/p>\nIPFW Department of Theatre<\/strong>
\nThe Yellow Boat (Fort Wayne Premier)
\nNovember 13th, 14th, 19th, 20th, 21st at 8:00 p.m., November 15th & 22nd at 2:00 p.m.
\nStudio Theatre in Kettler Hall
\n260.481.6551, Box office 260.481.6555, website<\/p>\nThe Yellow Boat is based on the true story of a child born with hemophilia who died in 1987 of AIDS-related
\ncomplications. The boy’s buoyant imagination transforms his physical and emotional pain into a blaze of
\ncolors and shapes as his fanciful drawings and paintings come to life in a glorious affirmation of a child’s life,
\nshowing the strength and courage of all children.<\/p>\nAllen County Public Library<\/strong>
\nFacing HIV\/AIDS photography exhibit
\nNovember 21st – January 10th (apx.)
\nJeffrey Krull Gallery, Downtown Public Library
\n260.421.1252, website<\/p>\nThe Library hosts the 2005 AIDS Task Force exhibit featuring John Gevers’ remarkable photos of people
\nliving with HIV and AIDS in northeast Indiana. The exhibit includes narratives of the subjects’ own stories
\nand new media additions to the portraits. The subjects of this exhibit continue to reduce stigma with their
\nbrave stories.<\/p>\nWorld AIDS Day\/Red Ribbon Day<\/strong>
\nVarious activities throughout the day
\nDecember 1st
\n260.744.1144, website<\/p>\nUnder consideration for World AIDS Day are a kickoff breakfast, events for middle and high school students,
\nan acting troupe, an evening concert performance of various arts groups, and a red ribbon campaign.
\nCheck the AIDS Task Force web site regularly for updated information.<\/p>\nFort Wayne Museum of Art<\/strong>
\nKeith Haring banner
\nDecember 1st – January 12th
\nOn the Museum’s outside wall
\n260.422.6467, website<\/a><\/p>\nSince the Museum of Art is under construction during much of the 25th Anniversary period, it will display a banner (apx. 14′ x 21′) for six weeks, beginning with an unveiling on World AIDS Day. The banner will
\nfeature Keith Haring artwork that will draw attention and awareness to the mission of AIDS Task Force and
\nthe losses suffered in the visual arts community due to AIDS.<\/p>\nFort Wayne Dance Collective<\/strong>
\nNuts and Crackers Performance
\nDecember 11th & 12th at 7:00 p.m., December 13th at 2:00 p.m.
\nElliot Studio Theatre, 437 East Berry Street, Fort Wayne
\n260.424.6574, website<\/p>\nAs part of the performance, Dance Collective restages The Green Isle in the Sea, a theatre\/dance piece
\nbased on the James Thurber tale of the same name. The piece was created for Dance Collective in 1985 by
\nJim Tyler, a dancer, choreographer, and performer from San Francisco who died of AIDS-related
\ncomplications in 1989.<\/p>\n2010<\/strong><\/p>\n
First Presbyterian Theater<\/strong>
\nThe Way We Live Now: 20 Years Later (Rated R)
\nJanuary 8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 22nd & 23rd, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
\nFPT, located in First Presbyterian Church at the corner of Wayne and Ewing
\n260.422.6329, website<\/p>\nCompiled in the late 1980s, these three short works from Lanford Wilson, Terrance McNally, and Susan
\nSontag were their way to cope with an epidemic that was destroying their community. First Presbyterian
\nTheater presents this collection to honor the ones who have been lost and to examine just how far society
\nhas actually come.<\/p>\nArena Dinner Theatre<\/strong>
\nThe Normal Heart (Rated R), a staged reading
\nMarch 27th, 8:00 p.m.
\nArena Dinner Theatre, 719 Rockhill Street
\nBox office, 260.424.5622, website<\/a><\/p>\nA searing drama about public and private indifference to the AIDS plague and one man’s lonely fight to
\nawaken the world to the crisis. The play follows Ned Weeks, a gay activist enraged at the indifference of
\npublic officials and the gay community. While trying to save the world from itself, he confronts the personal
\ntoll of AIDS when his lover dies of the disease.<\/p>\nFort Wayne Philharmonic<\/strong>
\nClassical Companions Series
\nApril 13th, 7:00 p.m.
\nRhinehart Recital Hall, IPFW
\n260.481.0770, Box office 260.481.0777, website<\/a><\/p>\nThis event combines a lecture and ensembles from the Fort Wayne Philharmonic to explore the impact of AIDS on classical music.<\/p>\n
Fort Wayne Philharmonic<\/strong>
\nMasterworks Concert
\nApril 17th, 8:00 p.m.
\nEmbassy Theatre
\n260.481.0770, Box office 260.481.0777, website<\/a><\/p>\nDuring this Masterworks Concert, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic helps raise community awareness about
\nHIV and AIDS through the use of red ribbons and the inclusion of information in programs.<\/p>\n