It may be a little dark on Northwest Eighth Avenue today.
In honor of Day With(out) Art/World AIDS Day, city officials said they will cover the solar walk sculptures, concrete statues that represent the solar system, in black from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The black coverings symbolize a world without art.
This will be the fourth time the city has held the demonstration.
Erin Friedberg, visual arts coordinator for the city’s Art in Public Places Trust, said the idea to cover the solar walk started in 2005, but the city only covered the sun in black to represent a world without light.
In 2008, the city decided to cover all of the sculptures to have a greater impact, Friedberg said.
This year, the city will expand the black coverings to all of the walk’s benches and the recently added a Halley’s Comet sculpture using recyclable plastic, Friedberg said.
The Day With(out) Art began on Dec. 1, 1989, as a national day of action and mourning in response to the AIDS crisis. Eight hundred U.S. art and AIDS groups participated in the first Day With(out) Art by shutting down museums, sending staff to volunteer at AIDS services and sponsoring special exhibitions of work about AIDS.
Friedberg said the project has grown to incorporate 8,000 museums, art centers, AIDS organizations, schools and other public institutions in the U.S.
She said it shows the impact of AIDS on the art world and promotes awareness and prevention of the disease.
