Seattle, Washington, United States
Tuesday, December 1, 2020 – Wednesday, December 1, 2021
Co-curated by David Gere, Carol Brown, and Stan Pressner.
In honor of World AIDS Day, on December 1, 2020, the Through Positive Eyes virtual exhibition launched on the Gates Foundation Discovery Center website with a public webinar featuring storytelling from members of the Seattle Through Positive Eyes Collective.
Artivist virtual performances
Various dates
HIV-positive artivists (artist-activists) from the Seattle Through Positive Eyes Collective share their images and personal narratives, engaging in direct dialogue with audiences through live storytelling virtually. Learn more on the Discovery Center's virtual experiences and drop-in events and programs webpages.
Meet the Artivists
Alora
It was the early 1980s or maybe the late 1970s. Could have been in India at the ashram. Or Oregon, on the ranch. Or maybe in LA after an evening at the skate rink, dancing and leaving it all on the …
Andrew
One day at a local thrift store, I found a jigsaw puzzle in its original sealed plastic bag, but no box. I felt a slight bit of apprehension about doing a puzzle without a picture, but I was more …
Bill
The story of my life, sadly, is not a unique one in Native American culture. This story can be told in a thousand different ways, each story representing an individual who suffered the same …
C.L.
CLEAN The paper-shredder bay Rips up sunset And spills it on the horizon A severed worm still wriggling I am lacerated by love 20 sailboats slice across the Duwamish her face miraculously unscarred …
Edward
Telling one's story isn’t easy. It’s hard to push the words out knowing someone is going to hear, read it, and maybe even tell someone else about it and give their opinions. The problem is …
Hugo
I'm a ghost you can see.* Lately I've been thinking a lot about stigma and what it means to live under its shadow. Stigma for a boy is not acting like one. Stigma for a citizen is wanting to abandon …
Julene
The Work: Grief-Work, Hope-Work, Love-Work We long term survivors, the first cohort of people with HIV/AIDS, live on full alert. We received our diagnosis before the cocktail approach; before …
Kelly G.
I feel like I’m in a constant state of transition. Always. Life has been like an M.C. Escher. Nonstop staircases. From infancy to toddlership, to childhood, to adolescence, to tweenhood, to teenager, …
Kelly H.
It’s interesting when I realize that living with HIV is the most manageable part of my life. I’m fortunate to have access to medication that keeps my HIV undetectable, which allows me to attend to …
Kia
At one point in my life, having HIV meant that I would have to settle—settle in love, in life, and happiness. But in the end, it turns out I didn’t have to settle after all. I came from a very …
Pat
Welcome to the whirling vortex of 2020. Covid 19, the plague of our time has killed over a million people in the world, over 200,000 in the United States. There is no end in sight. Covid 19 has …
Positively Positive
I was born queer, asexual, aromantic; sometimes, I do wonder if my HIV-positive status since birth and my childhood trauma contributed to my asexuality and aromantic identities. I lived 25 years as a …
Supporters
Through Positive Eyes in Seattle was organized in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center and Storytellers for Change. Major funding was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with ongoing support from The Herb Ritts Foundation.