Day Without Art to be observed

In observance of Day Without Art - marked annually on World AIDS Day, Dec.
1 - Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and its resident departments
have chosen to cancel all performances this year.

Although there will be no performances, lobby displays will pay tribute to
artists who have died and will provide HIV-prevention information. At 8
p.m. Krannert Center will host a candlelight memorial gathering for the
community in the Studio Theater. Speakers will include Stephen Keen from
Urbana's Station Theater; Barry Blindermann from the Illinois State
University Gallery; Bill Young, a UI choral student who conducts Chicago's
Windy City Gay Chorus; John Perpener, UI professor of dance; and Ken Carls,
UI professor of art and design.

The memorial was planned by representatives of Krannert Center, Krannert
Art Museum, the UI's department of theater and School of Art and Design,
the Greater Community AIDS Project, Parkland College Gallery, Campus AIDS
Coalition, and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.
The planning group also has arranged for the creation of a quilt panel,
which will be on display at Krannert Center for visitors to sign with the
names of those who have died of AIDS.

Day Without Art was started by Visual Aids in New York seven years ago as a
day of action and mourning in response to the AIDS crisis. It originally
was intended as a day of closure, but many arts institutions have found it
difficult to suspend business for the day and have turned instead to
focusing on the work of artists with AIDS and other means of calling
attention to the effect of the disease on the arts.

Krannert Center has observed Day Without Art for the past three years with
displays, curtain speeches and red-ribbon distribution. The decision to not
schedule any performances on Dec. 1 this year reflects the strong feelings
of the building's students and faculty and staff members that it should be
a day of silence and mourning. Because of the UI academic schedule, the
closure occurs on Friday night of the only weekend that Krannert Center is
able to schedule performances between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"It is important for us to do what we can to educate our community about
AIDS and to convey, in some public way, the sense of loss that has resulted
from this disease," said the center's director, Terrence Jones.

The UI's other Krannert - Kranner Art Museum - also will observe Day
Without Art, but will remain open. Curator Rachel Freyman said the museum
will display duplicate panels from the national AIDS quilt, and the
entrances and some art will be draped in black. Information about local
AIDS awareness organizations also will be available.

Other memorial displays and memorials are planned by local groups
throughout the day Dec. 1 on campus and in the community.

In addition, at 1:50 p.m., Altgeld Hall and campus churches will take part
in a nationwide ceremony by tolling their bells 15 times to mark the 15th
year of the AIDS epidemic. Individuals can join in the ceremony at the
Illini Union or in Krannert Center's lobby.

Commemorative AIDS ribbon bells are available from the Campus AIDS
Coalition, 384-5692, or from the Greater Community AIDS Project, 351-AIDS.
The limited edition, silver-plated, bells are engraved with the words
"Until It's Over"; the AIDS ribbon forms the bell's handle, and the year
1995 appears on the clapper. The cost is $15, or $10 for students. Proceeds
will benefit local AIDS organizations.