LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN 2017 Valentine Making Workshops

For LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN 2017, artists, activists and HIV+ women came together at Dieu Donné’s newly relocated paper making studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard to create hundreds of unique handmade paper valentines which will be mailed to women living with HIV around the world. For their third annual LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN collaboration, Visual AIDS, the Fire Island Artist Residency, Dieu Donné and the International Community of Women Living With HIV (ICW) hosted three papermaking valentine workshops on January 18 to show their love and support for women living with HIV internationally.

Women living with HIV as well as invited artists will make paper valentines for women living with HIV around the world. The valentines will be mailed with personalized messages as a gesture of love and support in the hopes of lessening the stigma experienced by women living with HIV.

LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN is an international series of grassroots events that uses Valentines Day as a backdrop, creating a platform for individuals and communities to engage in public and private acts of love and caring for women living with HIV. Working from a place of strength, LPW focuses on the idea of interconnectedness, relationship building, loving oneself and loving ones' community.

Women living with HIV can sign up to receive a valentine by sending their name and mailing address to: lovepositivewomen@gmail.com

A pop-up exhibition at the Bureau of General Services Queer Division will display a selection of the valentines from Thursday, January 26 through Sunday, January 29 (1PM–7PM), with a public reception on January 26 from 6:30­–8:30PM

LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN Valentine Pop-Up Exhibition Hours
The Bureau of General Services—Queer Division
208 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011
Thursday, January 26­ – Sunday, January 29, 2017, 1PM–7pm
Reception: January 26, 6:30–8:30PM

About The Bureau of General Services—Queer Division
The Bureau of General Services—Queer Division is an independent, all-volunteer queer cultural center, bookstore, and event space hosted by The LGBT Center in New York City.

About Dieu Donné
Dieu Donné is a leading cultural institution dedicated to serving established and emerging artists through the collaborative creation of contemporary art using the process of hand papermaking.

About the International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW)
The International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW) is the only global network by and for women living with HIV. ICW exists to lead efforts towards securing and improving the quality of life for women living with HIV by mobilizing, organizing, advocating, mentoring and raising consciousness on the issues that directly impact lives.

About the Fire Island Artist Residency
The Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR) is an organization founded in 2011 which brings lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer identifying emerging artists to Fire Island, a place long-steeped in LGBTQ history, to create, commune, and contribute to the location's rich artistic history. FIAR provides free live/work space to artist residents who work, research, relax, and immerse themselves in the Fire Island community, during which time they are visited by a handful of renowned visiting artists, curators, and art professionals who commune with residents through intimate visits, dinners, and discussions, providing support and feedback.

About Visual AIDS
Visual AIDS utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy, because AIDS IS NOT OVER. Visual AIDS is the only contemporary arts organization fully committed to HIV prevention and AIDS awareness through producing and presenting visual art projects, while assisting artists living with HIV/AIDS. We are committed to preserving and honoring the work of artists with HIV/AIDS and the artistic contributions of the AIDS movement.