The impact of COVID on people affected by HIV.

In the spring of 2021, we came together—seven students and eight community partners—to explore the impact of COVID on people affected by HIV.  We moved from learning about the history of HIV/AIDS to co-creating knowledge with our community partners. Each student sewed two journals by hand—one for herself and one for her community partner. Students and their partners met weekly by Zoom to learn from one another. This involved writing and drawing in the journals, listening to music, and sometimes even singing and dancing together.  This collaborative work  became the basis of our digital exhibition about the impact of COVID on people living with HIV/AIDS in Richmond.

Many thanks to Jen Thomas, Book Arts Program Director, who guided the creation of hand-sewn journals. Thanks to Tania del Carmen, for the beautiful photography and digital designer Alex Fulton, who taught us how to see the journal entries, letters, and images in a digital space and made this exhibition possible.

Meet Our Community Partners