What are you doing this World AIDS Day?

This World AIDS Day, Art for AIDS International is hosting two events to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and about the work that Art for AIDS is doing to support women and children affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa.  Please check out the following listings and put at least one of them in on your calendar!

December 1st: Celebrate World AIDS Day with Art for AIDS @ APKLive

On December 1st, Join Art for AIDS International at the new APK Live in London and Celebrate World AIDS Day. We will be hosting a large exhibit, and some incredible local musicians. Come out to APK Live to enjoy lovely music and check out some alternative gift ideas for the Holiday season.

Come see musicians like: Richard Drew,  Emily Jarvis, Victoria Sartor and Dean McKey, Jess McKeen, and Blaise Dunn

LocationAPK Live; 340 Wellington Street, lower (Under Yuk Yuks); London, ON

RSVP on Facebook!Read more


Art for AIDS' Vancouver Launch Success

On October 5th and 6th Art for AIDS International hosted their first workshop and first exhibit in Vancouver Canada both at the Four Seasons Hotel.  Thanks to generous sponsorship by the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, and Starbucks both events were a huge success garnering tremendous support and enthusiasm from local teachers and business owners.

We would like to offer a special thanks to Jennifer Clay who found out about Art for AIDS International only a few months ago and took on the full initiative to plan and promote these events on our behalf.  Thanks to Jennifer's hard work, and the wonderful reception we received while in Vancouver it seems increasingly likely we will be hosting more workshops and events out west in the not-so-distant future.

To view photos from the event visit Art for AIDS on Flickr!


Art for AIDS International at the Four Seasons Vancouver on October 5th and 6th!

On October 5th and 6th, help Art for AIDS International continue to create change for women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa by attending an incredible exhibition and workshop series at the Four Season's Hotel in Vancouver.

The workshop, which will take place on October 5th from 1:00 to 4:30pm at the Four Seasons, will give you first hand experience learning about, and participating in, creating art to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS.  Educators looking to expand their own knowledge of the subject, or who are interested in bringing Art for AIDS to their school should definitely attend!

This workshop will be followed by the opening of a wonderful new Art for AIDS International exhibit on October 6th, featuring new artwork made by students from Canada, as well as various countries in sub-Saharan Africa.  This work is all available for sale with proceeds benefiting organizations working with women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

The goal of these events is to let you experience the thrill of a workshop and learn from Hendrikus about his work and how you can become involved, as an owner of their art, a corporate sponsor, a host for a workshop or a supporter in some other way.Read more


"Jogging" in Jeju for Art for AIDS

On June 13, 2010, longtime Art for AIDS volunteer Alex Rathy, now working full time in Suncheon South Korea, completed his first marathon on the beautiful island of Jeju to raise funds and awareness for Art for AIDS International.  All of us at Art for AIDS would like to sincerely thank and congratulate Alex for completing this arduous journey and for continuing to be a dedicated part of our organization.  Further, we would like to thank Alex for raising over CAD $500 which we will use to further our work, and the work of our partners on the ground in Southern Africa working with women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.Please continue reading below to learn about what inspired Alex to run a marathon for Art for AIDS and spend some time thinking about what you could do to support organizations working to improve the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS in your own community or abroad.Read more

Upcoming Summer Events

Once again we are gearing up for a busy summer season of outdoor festivals and art exhibits.  June is shaping up to be a crazy busy month. Fresh on the heels of our successful Exhibit at Toronto’s iconic Gladstone Hotel, we continue to expand our profile into the Toronto area with a new Exhibit opening at the Steam Whistle Brewery’s Art Gallery.  We will be displaying our most recent artwork along with old favourites for the entire month in its wonderful Roundhouse.

Shortly after the Steam Whistle opening, we will be in downtown Sarnia on Saturday June 5th and 6th participating at its big outdoor festival called ArtWalk. It will be our first time participating and we are excited to bring our unique message of art and social consciousness to this part of Ontario.

While some of us are still in Sarnia, Hendrikus Bervoets, the Executive Director of Art for AIDS International, will be back in Toronto displaying our wares for four days throughout the child welfare conference of the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies.

The last weekend of June (the 25th, 26th, and 27th) finds us back in our hometown of London Ontario for the International Food Festival.  It will be our first year participating at this event.  There will be music along with lots of interesting food from all over the world and we always find that a conducive environment for communicating our message and selling our artwork.

Summer in the city will find us once again participating in London’s premier outdoor festivals at Victoria Park.  Sunfest occurs the second weekend in July the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th.  Sunfest, with its multicultural theme of music from all over the world, is a wonderful place for us to meet people from differing cultural backgrounds. They make a very receptive audience for our international artwork that has been created in six countries from around the world.

We have two weeks to recover before we participate in London’s well-known and loved Ribfest that runs from July 29 to August 2.  Ribfest is always a popular destination for Londoners to visit during the Civic holiday weekend and we certainly have a great time being part of it.

We are particularly pleased to have such a busy summer schedule because it provides us with multiple venues in which to display all the new interesting and dynamic artwork that we have created in the last several months. We are looking forward to showing off our new collages from recent workshops in Johannesburg South Africa, schools here in Ontario, and artwork from Katimavik young people from all over Canada who are participating in Canada’s number 1 volunteer program.

Please come visit us. We hope to talk to as many people as possible this summer about what we do at Art for AIDS.  We remain committed to our unique style of social justice that expresses itself through art as a way to raise much-needed funds for a serious global issue.


Getting Ready for the Gladstone Hotel Exhibit

It seems odd in retrospect that after almost a decade of hosting exhibits and workshops with students throughout Ontario and around the world, that we have never hosted an exhibition in Toronto (despite the incredible support we have received from local schools and individuals).  To rectify this we have been working hard to ensure that 2010 will see no shortage of activity in the greater Toronto area.  The first of what will be many events on the horizon will open this Friday, April 9th, at the famous Gladstone Hotel on Queen Street West in Toronto.  Located in their second story gallery, this exhibit will feature 25 works of art made by internationally recognized artists from Africa, North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia as part of Art for AIDS' International Portfolio.  This work is exhibited alongside 40 unique works of art made by students from Canada, Uganda, South Africa, Mozambique, and the Netherlands.

We finalized hanging the exhibit yesterday and it will be available to view from today until next Sunday when the exhibit will be taken down.  Regular hours during the week will be 9 until 3 and the official opening will occur this Friday from 7PM until 10 PM.

We strongly encourage everyone to come out and enjoy the opening, learn more about Art for AIDS, and, if you are so inclined, purchase a piece of art.  The student prints will be available for $75 each framed and the international portfolio pieces will be sold individually for $550 each.

All of the proceeds from the sale of this work will be directed grassroots civil society organizations that assist women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.  In the past Art for AIDS International has worked with and contributed to a number of inspiring organizations in South Africa, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.

Just in case anyone wanted a sneak peak of the exhibit, or if you are unable to attend I thought I would attach a photo.

A sneak peak of the upcoming exhibit at the Gladstone Hotel

As I mentioned above, the Gladstone is only the first of many upcoming events in the Toronto area.  To find out about events in Toronto or elsewhere in the world, please visit our website at www.artforaidsinternational.org, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter by following the links to the right of this post!

The next exhibition will be hosted in the Steam Whistle Brewery this summer for an entire month. Please check back soon for more details.

We hope to see you all this Friday!

The Gladstone Hotel is located at 1214 Queen Street West, in Toronto between Ossington and Duffern.

For more details contact us at [email protected]


Art for AIDS Apartheid Museum Opening: The day has come!

apartheid museum invitation

Tomorrow marks a milestone for Art for AIDS International! Hendrikus Bervoets, founder of Art for Aids International, will be on his way to an incredibly busy two weeks in Johannesburg, South Africa. South Africa was the original African connection for Art for Aids International making it truly inspiring that after six years of hard work and patient perseverance, Art for AIDS is opening an exhibit at arguably the most important and certainly the most popular museum in South Africa, The Apartheid Museum. CONGRATULATIONS HENDRIKUS! For more information about what Art for AIDS International will be doing in South Africa, CLICK HERE!