Perpetual Archives: Sam Kirk, TaskForce Prevention and Community Services & PrEP4Teens, and Gerber/Hart Library and Archives

The Riverside Arts Center (RAC) is pleased to present an interdisciplinary exhibition examining the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis in the Midwest through art, community-based prevention, and archival ephemera at the Riverside Town Hall. Curated by Ivan Bujan, the exhibition brings together artwork by Sam Kirk, community-based work by TaskForce Prevention and Community Services and PrEP4Teens, and archival ephemera from Gerber/Hart Library & Archives.

The exhibition will be on view at 27 Riverside Road from November 16, 2026, through February 26, 2027. This exhibition is held in conjunction with exhibition Perpetual Desires, opening at the Freeark Gallery on January 17, which explores the ongoing implications of HIV/AIDS and its effects on desire and intimacy.

Opening Reception: Sunday, January 17, 2027, 3:00 – 6:00 pm; Join us after for a private cocktail hour at the Quincy Street Distillery

Please join us on Sunday, January 17, from 3 to 6 pm for a joint reception for both exhibitions. Light refreshments will be served at the Riverside Arts Center, a short block around the corner from Town Hall. Participants in TaskForce’s voguing program will perform, highlighting voguing and ballroom culture as important forms of community-making, expression, and resilience in the face of HIV/AIDS. Following the reception, join us for a private cocktail hour across the street at Quincy Street Distillery.

RAC has partnered with Visual AIDS, a visual arts organization dedicated to using art to address HIV/AIDS, to present its annual Day With(out) Art documentary program on December 1, marking World AIDS Day. This year’s program, titled seeds in a dying colony, will be screened at the auditorium of Riverside Town Hall (27 Riverside Road) on December 1 at 6 pm. followed by a panel discussion featuring artists Saumitra Chandratreya, David Lozano, Darryl DeAngelo Terrell, and Sam Kirk; HIV/AIDS scholar and historian Jennifer Brier; and Chris Balthazar, Executive Director of TaskForce Prevention and Community Services. The panelists will respond to the films and consider how HIV/AIDS continues to shape art, politics, culture, and everyday life. The event is free and open to the public.