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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE March, 1990

Feminist artist has one-woman show

Feminist artist Arleen Hartman is currently exhibiting her newest work at M. Gentile Studios, 1729 Superior Ave. A gallery talk will be held Saturday, March 3, at 1:00 p.m.

Titled "Resurrection in the Urban Environment: New Work by Arleen Hartman," the exhibit features collages and plaster sculptures which express Hartman's hope “that life is ongoing and continuous".

"I am intrigued by my neighborhood, in love with it and fearful . . . I am fascinated by buildings on my street with layers of peeling paint, trash and litter blowing across the sidewalks... I have a hope that life is ongoing and continuous. I see it in the faces of my neighbors and in the potential of the burned out vacant lots."

Hartman's artwork is about social concerns and is inspired by objects found in her own neighborhood-old, weathered, once useful objects. In her view, an egg carton, or a road block sign have been "transformed into things of found beauty by being rained on and run over by cars". The artwork's streetweathered appearance is achieved by using a power sander to work through dozens of paper layers. The resulting texture gives the feeling of "something old and peeling." The plaster sculptures suggest ancient objects that have been excavated.

Hartman completed her undergraduate work at Cleveland State University and earned her M.F.A. in drawing at the University of Cincinnati

in 1984. As a feminist artist she has been included in the International Women Artist Archive, and is currently an Ohio Arts Council artist-in-residence.

She has lectured extensively on issues in contemporary feminist art. Hartman's

INSIDE THE WASHINGTON LOBBY:

by Chai Feldblum and Laura Markowitz

AIDS and gay rights activists, and the entire NORA (National Organizations Responding to AIDS) coalition are preparing for legislation on issues vital to the community. Here are some of the issues we can expect to read about in the news, with some projections as to outcome and opposition.

The Budget: Every year, there's a budget. The Office of Management and Budget, which coordinates the president's proposed budget, has already announced that it will be late by a week in transmitting the president's budget to Congress, so the budget process will not start on time. OMB is essentially the people with the axes, who chop the various departments' requests for money.

Many activists are hoping that recent activities in eastern Europe will have a "peace dividend" effect on the budget, that is, that domestic programs will receive a greater share of money as a result of cuts in military programs. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is pushing this concept for the upcoming budget. It won't be clear how much of this money, even if it does come through, will be allotted for AIDS programs.

Americans With Disabilities Act: This bill, which would of protection to people with disabilities, including HIV infection, in the private sector, will be given a final push for passage. It needs to pass three more House committees where it will probably be met with antigay and anti-AIDS amendments by Rep. William Dannemeyer, R-Calif., and others, before it goes to the full House for a vote. If all goes well, AIDS activists are looking forward to a signing of this

bill by President Bush by the summer. "We're getting our party hats ready!" said one activist.

Immigration and HIV Infection: A restriction of travel in the U.S. for foreigners with HIV infection has been a major source of embarrassment for this country as several international organizations are planning to boycott the Sixth International Conference on AIDS in San Francisco this summer because of the policy. An international conference on hemophilia, also scheduled for the summer, is being met with the same response from the international community. Foreigners applying for visas to the United States can be excluded if they are HIV infected. If they receive a waiver to enter the country, that fact is stamped on their passport. The National Commission of AIDS recently issued recommendations in this area and because of the immediacy of the situation (with the upcoming conferences) advocates hope to see some changes. Representatives from several organizations, including AIDS Action Council, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Hemophilia Foundation, are scheduled to meet shortly with officials of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to discuss the situation of both visitors and permanent residents.

Care for PWAS: This session should see at least the introduction of some type of care bill for people with HIV infection that will propose programs to deliver services to cities that are most hard hit by AIDS as well as to PWAS across the country. This will be the opening shot in a long-term effort by NORA to convince Congress to deal effectively with financing care for PWAS.

work has been exhibited widely, and for the past seven years, she has taught in Ohio colleges. Currently she teaches in CSU's First College and Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. "Resurrection in the Urban Environ-

AIDS Education and Prevention: The big news story early January in Washington was that Bill Roper will be leaving the White House Domestic Policy Office to head up the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Roper was one of the main White House negotiators for the ADA bill, and he knows AIDS issues. CDC is the agency responsible for surveillance and prevention activity for AIDS.

The ACLU has sued CDC, on behalf of various groups, charging that the CDC guidelines (which require, among other things, that AIDS educational materials be "inoffensive" to the general public) were unconstitutional. A judge recently ruled that the ACLU could proceed with the suit. In the coming session, there should be some effort to have CDC guidelines modified so that the lawsuit can be dropped.

In the meantime, the United States is far behind other countries in having an effective prevention program in place. Establishing such a program is one of the main NORA objectives, being spearheaded by the American Psychological Association.

Confidentiality Bill: We can expect to have some activity again around a bill to provide money for voluntary HIV testing and to establish federal confidentiality protection. On the flip side, the American Medical Association has come out with a policy calling for reporting the names of those who are HIV-infected to state health officials. Many members of Congress will be eager to push this proposal forward. Rep. Dannemeyer has already distributed the AMA recommendation to all of his colleaf

S.

ment" can be viewed through Friday, March 23. Hours are Tuesdays through Fridays, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Monday by appointment.

For more information call 621-0737.▼

Gays in the Military: The witch hunting of gays in the military will probably not be the target of legislation yet in Congress, but might by reviewed and publicized in hearings. Most of the activity now is still occurring in litigation, but ultimately we may need legislation to change the military's discriminatory policy toward gays.

Gay Civil Rights Act: This act would provide anti-discrimination protection on the basis of sexual orientation. It currently has eight cosponsors in the Senate and 74 in the House. In the upcoming session, there will be a redoubled effort to educate more members of Congress about the need for the bill. This is what activists tend to call "a long-term project."

Some legislation of significant concern to PWAs, like financing, may take a long time to achieve, which is hard to accept since often there are life-or-death issues. Each session there are gains and losses. This session we stand close to achieving the ADA bill, which will be an incredible triumph for PWAs. The Gay Civil Rights Act, in the meantime, may not be seriously considered, but the educational effort will be slowly advanced. There are always surprises in Washington politics, but AIDS and gay activists try to remain cautiously optimistic.

Feldblum is an attorney for the ACLU AIDS Project.

Markowitz is an editor of a national family therapists' magazine. ▼