Recognizing AIDS’ Toll on the Arts

Orange County’s arts community will observe the international Day Without Art today with even less fanfare than in previous years, when local groups staged special public events to commemorate the toll AIDS has taken on the arts.

The reason, say local arts officials, is that those observances had meager public attendance. Still, the Orange County Museum of Art plans to commemorate the day by shrouding a painting now on view at the Newport Beach facility by Los Angeles artist Carlos Almaraz, who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1989.

An artist’s lecture last year at OCMA pulled the lowest attendance of any previous daytime lecture, said museum education coordinator Maxine Gaiber.

Meanwhile, the Orange County Performing Arts Center, which also has hosted Day Without Art events that were poorly attended, is hoping to bring attention to the cause this week by hanging a large commemorative banner in the lobby of its main Segerstrom Hall. Thousands of patrons attending various performances are expected to see the banner.

County health officials say that 2,800 people in Orange County have died of AIDS-related diseases to date. New drugs, however, have helped cause the death rate to plummet. It fell 64% in the first half of 1997 from the same period the previous year, according to the most recent figures available from the Orange County AIDS Surveillance and Monitoring Program.

Other local groups, including the Pacific Symphony and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, will mark today’s observance by donating hundreds of free concert passes to AIDS Services Foundation in Irvine. ASF serves about 1,000 clients throughout the county.

South Coast Repertory will be folding AIDS-awareness fliers into its programs and collecting food donations for ASF through mid-December. The Huntington Beach Art Center, as usual, will close its offices, as will Chapman University’s Guggenheim Gallery in Orange. Coincidentally, Chapman also will have sections of the AIDS memorial quilt on display starting today and continuing through Sunday.

Worldwide participation in Day Without Art is up this year, reports Visual AIDS, the New York coalition that in 1989 launched the Dec. 1 observance, spurred by the passing of such cultural icons as dancer Rudolf Nureyev.

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About 7,200 arts groups--700 more than last year--are expected to present special concerts, exhibits and fund-raisers, Visual AIDS officials said.

They noted that many organizations are extending their involvement beyond a single day each December, as have some local groups.

Last week, for instance, the Laguna Playhouse donated its facilities to ASF for a screening of a video of the group’s major annual Splash fund-raiser. In March, the Philharmonic Society and ASF jointly presented a benefit concert at Laguna Beach High School featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. The benefit raised $23,642 for ASF, said David Armendariz, director of volunteer services and communications.

Dean Corey, the Philharmonic Society’s executive director, sits on ASF’s board advisory committee, Armendariz added, and Naomi Grabel, SCR’s marketing and communications director, has volunteered to coordinate publicity efforts for the group’s annual AIDS Walk for several years.

“We really appreciate how the people in the performing arts here are involved with us on a year-round basis,” Armendariz said. “We feel they’re doing a lot to support people with AIDS in different ways.”