Groups launch registry of artists lost to AIDS (10685)

To commemorate World AIDS Day, the New York-based Alliance for the Arts' Estate Project for Artists With AIDS this week announced it is launching an Internet registry listing hundreds of actors, designers, writers, and others who have died of AIDS. The purpose of the registry is to memorialize the lives and catalog the work of those listed.

"This is a window on the art of a whole generation of artists," said alliance president Randall Bourscheidt. "This is an attempt to let their art live on."

Alliance members searched obituaries, articles, and academic archives to develop the registry. They then contacted the artists' survivors, nearly all of whom agreed to allow their loved ones to be listed. In addition, the organizers have created two online archives of dance and musical works by HIV-positive artists. These contain biographical sketches and a catalog of works available to researchers. Twelve years ago the Estate Project was founded to help artists with AIDS plan their estates and deal with other issues to preserve their works. The national registry and archives cost about $75,000 to produce. For more information, visit www.artistswithaids.org.