The exhibit highlights the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic domestically & globally on women of color empowering beyond stigma & shame. Features 200 artist dolls, sculptures, community-created handmade dolls from Dr. Cynthia Davis’s Dolls of Hope Project, artist-designed altars & quilts including the NAMES Project Foundation’s AIDS Memorial Quilt. Artists & collectors include Floyd Bell, Stormy Weather, Ingrid Humphrey,Gary Jones, Allyson Allen, Bernard Hoyes, Ramsess, Ofelia Esparza, Joey Terrill, Mary Kimbrough, dolls & altars by clients at a residential shelters His Sheltering Arms & the Alcoholism Center for Women.

Partners include ABACT Women’s Sub-Committee, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alcoholism Center for Women, Association of Black Women Physicians, Black Women for Wellness, California Black Women’s Health Project, Charles R. Drew University, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc, Inglewood Alumnae Chapter & His Sheltering Arms.

Opening: Saturday, December 12, 2-5pm

• Puppetry by Gary Jones & The Yuppets (Blackstreet USA Theatre)
• Panel Discussion, 3pm (approx) – “Women Living with HIV/AIDS”
• Rapid testing by Charles R. Drew University Mobile Testing 

Dolls of Hope Workshop

Saturday, December 19, 2-4 pm

Make a doll to give to children & families affected by HIV/AIDS at a workshop led by Dr. Davis. The Dolls of Hope, founded by Dr. Davisas part of World AIDS Day 1998, has distributed over 6,000 handmade cloth dolls to orphans, women & youth affected by AIDS.

Documentary Screening: Wilhemina’s War Saturday, January 9, 3-5pm

A preview screening of the documentary Wilhemina’s War, airing on PBS in February 2016, focuses on the impact of HIV/AIDS among African American women across generations.

Creating Sanctuary: Eliminating HIV/AIDS-related Stigma and Shame 

Saturday, February 13, 2-5pm

Featuring women’s West African drum collective S.H.I.N.E. & panel discussion.Speakers include Reverend Kelvin Sauls of Holman United Methodist Church and Reverend Alfreda “Freda” Lanoix of Unity Fellowship.

About the Curator: Dr.Cynthia Davis MPH is an Assistant Professor in the College of Medicine & College of Science & Health at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science. Professor Davis plans, coordinates & evaluates several HIV/AIDS-related Health Education, Risk Reduction & mobile HIV screening programs targeting at-risk medically underserved populations in Los Angeles County & developed the first mobile HIV testing & outreach project initiated in Los Angeles County in 1991. She has been an advocate for primary prevention services for women & youth in South LA as well as actively engaged in facilitating HIV/AIDS education & risk reduction workshops. Dr. Davis has served on the Board of Directors of AIDS Healthcare Foundation for 27 years & works to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS among disenfranchised people of color  on a local, national & international basis.

About the Black Doll Show: The Black Doll Show was started in 1980 by the Friends of William Grant Still Arts Center with artist Cecil Fergerson as its first curator. The show was inspired by the Black Doll Test in the 1940s by psychologists Mamie & Kenneth Clark which concluded that many African-American children preferred playing with white dolls over black dolls. The Show is the longest-running display of Black Dolls in LA.