LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN 2018 Valentine Making Workshops

For LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN 2018, artists, activists and HIV+ women came together at Dieu Donné’s paper making studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn, NY to create over 500 unique handmade paper valentines that were mailed to women living with HIV around the world in time for Valentine’s Day. Visual AIDS, the Fire Island Artist Residency, Dieu Donné and the International Community of Women Living With HIV (ICW) hosted four papermaking valentine workshops on January 24 and January 25 to show their love and support for women living with HIV internationally. A pop-up exhibition at Abrons Art Center displayed a selection of the valentines from Thursday, February 1 through Sunday, February 4, and held a public reception on February 1.

LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN is an ongoing project established by Visual AIDS artist member Jessica Whitbread in 2013. “Why not do something nice for the women most forgotten about?” says Whitbread. “Taking the time to do something for someone else is really beneficial to society as a whole. Don’t underestimate the value in something as simple as sending a valentine to a stranger.” The New York City LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN valentine making workshop program is now in its fourth year, and from 2015–2018 has mailed over 500 valentines to women living with HIV around the world.

LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN (LPW) 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. (http://jessicawhitbread.com/project/love-positive-...

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

LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN Valentine Pop-Up Exhibition Hours
Abrons Art Center
466 Grand Street, New York, NY 10002
Thursday, February 1­ – Sunday, February 4, 2018, 10AM–9PM
Reception: February 1, 6:30–8:30PM

About Abrons Art Center
Abrons Arts Center is a home for contemporary interdisciplinary arts in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. A core program of the Henry Street Settlement, Abrons believes that access to the arts is essential to a free and healthy society. Through performance presentations, exhibitions, education programs and residencies, Abrons mobilizes communities with the transformative power of art.

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. www.dieudonne.org

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. http://www.iamicw.org

About the Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR)

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. www.fireislandartistresidency.org