A Safe Haven

Inside Subversive Tattoo looking outside

I Want Everyone To Feel Welcome

flat disk hanging on a wall with the words “Do tattoos hurt?”

The most explicit tattoo

cut out tattoo transfer paper

Queer Identity

Flash art hanging on the wall above Marz’s desk.

Marz’s desk filled with cleaning spray and ink bottles

Marz sitting in front of her mirror.

Because I'm gay, it makes the shop gay

shelf above Marz’s desk.

Tattoo transfer paper with a chain pinned to a wooden shelfs

Subversive Tattoo t-shirts in a display case.

Phyllis sitting at her desk, working on her computer

The inside of a Callen-Lorde patient room with medical supplies and a Keith Harring painting of stacked bodies hanging on the wall

Phyllis looking at the camera and demonstrating one of Callen-Lorde's PrEP flyers.

Catarina looking at the camera, wearing her homemade crown.

Callen-Lorde's entrance with flyers, including a National Voter Registration Day announcement

A stack of navy blue t-shirts made by Callen-Lorde for pride events, which reads "Queering Health ~ Our Health, Our Way" in pink lettering.

Confronting Racism in LGBTQ+ Healthcare

The inside of Callen-Lorde's hallway, with a flatscreen that reads "Racism is a Public Health Issue".

The inside of a Callen-Lorde patient room with a Keith Haring painting of a figure cradling a baby in their arms hanging on the wall

Catarina looking in the mirror and adjusting her crown.

Phyllis looking directly at the camera and standing in front of a wall of portraits of Callen-Lorde employees.

Phyllis wearing a black shirt with arms crossed, laughing.

Patrick Lin at QCH - Queens Center for Gay Seniors.

Eleanor Batchelder at QCH - Queens Center for Gay Seniors.

A closeup from behind of two QCH members sitting at a round table.

A group of QCH flyers on top of two round green tables.

“You can come as you are when you enter the space”

A closeup of a QCH member holding their own painting filled with blue swirls against a purple and red background.

Making The Space Visible for LGBTQ+ Seniors

A poster which reads "35 YEARS TOGETHER" sitting on top of a marroon chair.

Marching for Outreach

Patrick smiling at the camera and making a peace sign with his fingers on a QCH pride bus filled with mini pride flags.

Prioritizing LGBTQ+ space for LGBTQ+ Seniors

An overhead shot of a large hand-painted banner with text "Queens Center for Gay Seniors" surrounded by two rainbows.

A closeup of a hand painting pink letters on a banner.

A row of chairs filled with QCH members' paintings.

A closeup of paintings, a QCH members' hand, and a green plant, sitting on a round white table.

A closeup of the hand-painted "Queens Center for Gay Seniors" banner.

A closeup of a long green pothos plant sitting atop a round white table.

A closeup of a tan hand dippiing a paintbrush in orange paint above the Queens Center for Gay Seniors banner.

“A Community Living Room...Minus a Kitchen”

Kayla and a QCH member smiling at the camera with a peace sign and thumbs up

Building Community

An elder person holding a cane and a young child with red heart sunglasses on the QCH pride bus.

A student from our group, Giulia Armentano, met Kyle Croft, the current Executive Director of Visual AIDS, at the organization's office in Chelsea and was humbled hearing him talk about all that Visual AIDS does, its goals, projects and hopes for the future.

During our conversation, Croft spoke about how Visual AIDS strives to resist the value structure of the art world by giving visibility and welcoming into its archive any artists affected by HIV+, regardless of their status or recognition within the art world.

In this way Visual AIDS not only preserves the work of artists who have died, but supports and uplifts living ones, giving them visibility and helping them to be taken seriously within the art world.

An overview of Visual AIDS

A 3D mixed media painting with pink flowers, gravestones, and text "AIDS IS NOT OVER".

Kyle sitting at a table, holding up a pink poster that reads "YOU CARE ABOUT HIV CRIMINALIZATION : YOU JUST DON'T KNOW IT YET".

The Archive, and the struggle to not replicate the values of the art world

A collection of colorful archival slides arranged in rows, lit up by a lightbox.

Kyle pulling an archival folder off of a shelf filled with other thick black archival folders.

A closeup of two archival slides depicting Frederick Weston's paintings of a Black woman against a pink background and a young Black boy dressed in all yellow against a blue background.

A closeup of Kyle holding an archival file depicting a drawing of a chair.

Kyle looking at posters inside of a long archival storage drawer.

A closeup of Kyle's hands holding a stack of archival slides arranged in plastic folders

Kyle sitting on a black couch under framed posters hanging on the wall.

Kyle sitting at a desk smiling, looking at a set of posters.

Day Without Art, and how to make the art world take seriously the AIDS crisis

Kyle Croft on being queer and working in the art world during the AIDS crisis

Reshaping the narrative about AIDS, AIDS activism and cultural production, and the struggle of being grassroots.

A closeup of Kyle's hand flipping through a document entitled "The Archive Project".

A closeup of two white bookshelves holding colorful books published by Visual AIDS.

Kyle sitting at a desk looking at a black and white poster.

A closeup of a desk with papers stacked, slides enlarger, and a poster hanging on the wall which reads "ATTENTION!! PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDS".

A large purple tapestry with black and white portraits of different people above text that reads "LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN - 2018 - Visual AIDS.

A closeup of a painting depicting a gradient of pink colors with text "WHERE DID THE LOVE GO".

Kyle speaking with hands extended above a folder of archival slides sitting on a desk.