Debbie Millman Instagram – The United States designated December 1st as World AIDS Day in 1988, and has commemorated those that died from HIV/AIDS ever since. But this year, employees at the State Department, which manage the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, have been told that they should not publicly commemorate the day or spend government money on events around the day. WTF! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
Approximately 44.1 MILLION people have died from HIV-related causes since 1981, with an estimated 630,000 deaths occurring in 2024 alone. It took the president at the time, Ronald Reagan, six years into the epidemic to publicly say the word “AIDS.” Think of all the lives who could have been saved if he had more courage and compassion.
And now the government wants to forget it ever happened???
NO.
Back in 2022 I worked with the @museumofbroadway (thank you @alisacohn) to design a permanent installation in the museum to commemorate 555 Broadway artists—performers, musicians, dancers, writers, crew and more—who lost their lives to this horrendous disease. I had two very large, long walls to work with. I decided to hand draw every name and deeply thought about every person who I was commemorating. How their lives were cut short, how much magic the world was deprived of. It was one of the most heartbreaking projects I’ve ever participated in.
I’m also deeply indebted to the museum and @msjulieboardman and @diane.nicoletti for this extraordinary opportunity, and the efforts they went to in getting this printed and built and installed. I also want to thank @broadwaycares and @thetomviola for, well, pretty much everything.
IMAGES:
1) long wall, completed
2) calculations to make sure everything could fit (but I had to redo this several times)
3) deciding whether or not there was room to add ages
4&5) Experiments with white background and type layers
6-9) Experiments with darker backgrounds and color ways.
10-13) Finalization and close-ups (RIP MY DEAR FRIEND BRIAN GREENBAUM)
14) Second wall, completed
15-18) In Situ, at the museum
#aidsawareness #aidseducation #worldaidsday2025🎗️ | Posted on 02/Dec/2025 02:49:34
