A new series of events and exhibitions aim to remember the art made during a devastating time, centered on the powerful Aids quiltIn the 1980s, while the Aids pandemic ravaged the LGBTQ+ population of the United States, then president Ronald Reagan failed to help. He didn’t even acknowledge the illness existed until 1985, four years into the outbreak, and research has shown that Reagan’s government spent four times as much researching cures for Legionnaire’s disease than HIV (in spite of the former having an infection and death rate that was dwarfed by Aids).In the vacuum formed by the failure of official government policy, on-the-ground activism by the LGBTQ+ community was essential. A substantial part of that activism was the Aids quilt. Originally conceived by Harvey Milk intern Cleve Jones, the quilt has gone on to become perhaps the largest community art project ever attempted, and panels are still being added to this day. Continue reading...