ICA sponsors city-wide AIDS Day Without Art

The button was cloaked in black yesterday as students mourned the deaths of millions who have fallen victim to AIDS. By closing all artistic exhibits across Philadelphia, the city commemorated World AIDS Day with the third annual Day Without Art, sponsored by the University's Institute of Contemporary Art. But despite the University's involvement, only 10 students participated in the AIDS awareness program. Students from both the School of Fine Arts and the Fine Arts Department of the College of Arts and Sciences met at 11:15 a.m. to walk to the Moore School of Art in Center City. Participants from across Philadelphia met at four sites in Center City to walk to JFK Plaza, where the commemoration was held. The Day Without Art in Philadelphia was part of a nationwide commemoration of World AIDS Day. Artistic communities around the country held protests and vigils to focus national attention on the problem of AIDS, according to a statement by the ICA. Speakers at the ceremony included ICA staff member and Day Without Art Co-Chairperson Art Ivy Barsky, First Deputy City Representative for Arts and Culture Diane Dalto, WXPN-FM Disk Jockey Michaela Majoun and poet Essex Hemphill. Barsky called the Day Without Art "a day of mourning, a day of rage, a day of appreciation." "I'm so proud to be in Philadelphia today," she added. Fine Arts graduate student Tina Marie Whitman organized the University's involvement in the event. "I've been trying to get the entire University involved," she said. "[AIDS] is the plague of today. It's something that you can't ignore." According to unofficial Philadelphia Police Department estimates, close to 500 people marched to JFK Plaza. They were joined by an additional 150 observers. But Whitman said the University turnout was far lower than she had hoped. "It is very discouraging," she said. "I find that the amount of apathy at this school is rather discouraging." Although Whitman was one of two supervisors of last year's student participation in Day Without Art, this year she organized student activities alone. As a result, putting the word out on campus was more difficult than last year, she said. Other members of the University community who went to the ceremony said they were also discouraged by the lack of support on campus. "[AIDS] has had a profound impact on my life," said University lecturer and critic Laura Lichtenstein. "I have lost too many friends." College sophomore Grace Koo said she went to the march even though the AIDS epidemic has not personally touched her. "Even though it doesn't affect me, it's really important to show compassion," she said. Koo said she did not think she would have heard about the event if it had not been publicized in Fine Arts classes. Malcolm Campbell, interim dean of the School of Fine Arts, said the lack of publicity was the reason that so few students were involved in yesterday's commemoration. "We just have to make [the event] better known next year," he said. "I think Penn students care deeply." Campbell joined the marchers for a portion of the walk to the Moore School. He said it was especially important for artists to show support for efforts to cure and prevent AIDS. "The impact of AIDS on the arts has been disproportionately devastating," he said. "Creative people have been severely hit."