The World AIDS Museum and Educational Center, located at 1350 E Sunrise Blvd. in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, opened on May 15, 2014.

History

The AIDS Museum and Educational Center began as an HIV support group, Pozitive Attitudes, at the Pride Center in Fort Lauderdale. The facilitator of that group was Steve Stagon and it was his idea to create an AIDS museum, in south Florida because

Broward County Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 ...

and

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

are "the epicenter of the AIDS crisis in America" and because of the area's LGBTQ population. After a series of temporary exhibits in churches and the Pride Center, they choose the location on 26th Street.

The building

On November 7, 2013,

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...

visited the World AIDS Museum and dedicated the space, 22 years to the day he announced his HIV status. Doors officially opened to the public in May 2014. The World AIDS Museum and Educational Center has a main gallery featuring the historical timeline of the AIDS epidemic, exhibits on Stigma, and a travelling photography exhibit, ''The Face of HIV'', which is now hung in The Urban League of Broward County's community gallery. They also do educational programs in schools and community organizations. The current Executive Director is Dr. Requel Lopes, AP. WAM is now located at the 1350 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 in the ArtServe Facility. Author and AIDS activist

Larry Kramer Laurence David Kramer (June 25, 1935May 27, 2020) was an American playwright, author, film producer, public health advocate, and gay rights activist. He began his career rewriting scripts while working for Columbia Pictures, which led him to Lo ...

, spoke at the museum on March 9, 2017 in conjunction with an exhibit that honored his work.

Traveling AIDS Museum project based in Newark, New Jersey

The AIDS Museum is a nonprofit organization based in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

in South Orange, NJ. * The museum also co-organized an exhibit titled "Edge of Light: Art in the Age of AIDS" at the Paul Robeson Center Gallery at Rutgers Newark, which ran from July 2007 until December 2007. * the World Culture Open Gallery (New York) was the site of a collaborative project called "Positive Still: Artists Respond to AIDS" featuring, among other artwork, five pieces from the AIDS Museum's permanent collection. There is an AIDS Museum in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and another being developed in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

References

External links

World AIDS Museum and Educational Center Web site

Newark AIDS Museum website
{{authority control HIV/AIDS organizations in the United States Art museums and galleries in New Jersey Museums in Newark, New Jersey Museums in Fort Lauderdale, Florida 2014 establishments in Florida Museums established in 2014