Each year in December, we acknowledge those lost to and impacted by HIV/AIDS and champion the ongoing fight against the epidemic. To commemorate World AIDS Day, the New York City AIDS Memorial hosted its annual, free, and public observance featuring two days of programming in collaboration with organizations dedicated to bringing communities together in the fight to end AIDS.

The spirit of visual artist Brian Buczak (1954—1987) is memorialized in the fourth string quartet of Philip Glass (1937—), one of the composer’s most intimate works. In 2024, what would have been Buczak’s 70th year of life, the acclaimed Mivos Quartet performed Glass’s tribute in a free concert organized by composer Nick Hallett as part of the Memorial’s live art series. The October 27th performance included introductory remarks by Bracken Hendricks and Sur Rodney (Sur).

On September 28, the New York City AIDS Memorial again welcomed the Generations Project to produce a storytelling event focusing on the stories of six women living with HIV/AIDS, which have been too often overlooked or marginalized throughout the epidemic. Organized alongside activist Shirlene Cooper, it featured members of the Visual AIDS’ Women's Empowerment Art Therapy Group.

On the occasion of what would be his 70th birthday, the David Wojnarowicz Foundation in collaboration with the New York City AIDS Memorial, Visual AIDS, and P·P·O·W staged a production of Wojnarowicz’s seminal monologues, The Waterfront Journals, along with performances by Rimbaud Hattie and candlelit vigil.

BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY) is a cross-country exhibition tour inside a 27-foot Box Truck celebrating Reproductive Justice, Queer Liberation, and Trans Joy! On September 8 the New York City AIDS Memorial hosted this event by Project for Empty Space which brought over 200 artists’ works inside this truck to cultivate community coast-to-coast.

The act of remembering is essential to our collective mourning and to strengthening our community. A Remembrance featured performances from aAliy A. Muhammad, Kinan Abou-afach with the Bergamot Quartet & Elisa Sutherland, and Jessica Hecht to reflect and renew.

On June 5, Long-Term Survivors HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, floral stylist Devin Antheus invited activist and visual and performing artist Agosto Machado to collaborate on an installation in honor of lives lost at the New York City AIDS Memorial.

In honor of Pride Month, and presented in partnership with the Whitney Museum of American Art, this celebratory evening celebrates queens featured in Legends of Drag: Queens of a Certain Age (Cernunnos, 2022), queer elders who have long been cultural and spiritual leaders within their communities.

Jim Hodges: Craig’s closet was on view from June 9, 2023—May 29, 2024 at the New York City AIDS Memorial Park

This two-day program of community, song, conversation, and food is catalyzed by artist Ines Doujak’s decades-spanning practice, and co-presented by the New York City AIDS Memorial and the Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA).