AHF unveiled a new mural painted on the side of their building on Cedar Springs Road. The mural was designed with Artitude and executed by Kimmie Flores.
The remarks and ribbon cutting were attended by AHF officials including Anthony Snipes, AHF’s regional director, Tracy Jones, AHF Southern Bureau Chief, Anthony Snipes, AHF regional director Texas and Tennesee, Imara Canady, AHF national communications director and Rig Rush, AHF’s director of branding. Rush said this was one of 20 murals AHF had commissioned across the country.
Artitude’s Jerome Larez said in his remarks, “Silence has never served us.” He said that art and advocacy go together and that the new AIDS mural creates a dialogue with the Stonewall 50 year anniversary mural it faces.
Flores explained that the mural was designed to have members of the community contribute. After the ribbon cutting, she handed attendees paint markers to add names of people lost to AIDS under to “polaroids” in the mural.
She said she hoped the mural would be a joyful way to celebrate the resilient LGBTQ community.
When AHF acquired the building where the Nelson-Tebedo Clinic had been for decades, they painted over a previous mural that had been painted on the building about seven years ago. After an uproar from the community, AHF contact Artitude and began making plans to replace it.
— David Taffet
