PHOENIX -— City officials, HIV/AIDS activists and health care providers gathered downtown last Wednesday for the unveiling of a new mural at The Parsons Center for Health and Wellness.

The mural at Central Avenue and Portland Street is meant to raise awareness and provide public health information about HIV and AIDS, supporting the city’s initiative to eliminate new HIV diagnoses by 2030.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego highlighted the importance of the new mural, saying it comes at a crucial time as the federal government has removed public health information about HIV and AIDS from its websites.

“We at the city of Phoenix are stepping up,” Gallego said. “We want to fill that information gap and make people aware of the best science in this area.”

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, there were 975 new HIV cases in the state in 2022, representing a 20% increase over the previous year.

Gallego acknowledged the rise and emphasized that the city views it as a reason to strengthen its educational efforts, with the mural serving as a key part of that initiative.

“We know we have work to do … we are not done,” Gallego said.

The mural features a QR code that links to public health resources.

“It’s a mural with a message,” Gallego said.

The mural, which takes up an entire side of The Parsons Center for Health and Wellness, features bold colors and strokes that spell out the word “LOVE” along with silhouettes and images of a diverse group of people.

It also features the message of “U=U” (Undetectable = Untransmittable) incorporated into the artwork in hopes that it will educate viewers about the modern reality of living with HIV and advances in treatment.

“With modern treatment you can get the HIV load to such a point that it can not be transmitted, and we want to make sure that message gets out in the community,” Gallego said.

The mural is also a powerful tool in combating the stigma surrounding HIV. By sharing crucial messages like “U=U,” it can help reshape public perceptions and foster understanding of what HIV is like today, said Andrew Rascon, outreach and community engagement manager at Prisma Community Care, which is located in The Parsons Center for Health and Wellness.

While the mural serves to educate the public, it also symbolizes the progress made in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

“So many of us here know friends who were impacted or family members who were impacted in the ‘80s and ‘90s, when an end to the endemic was almost unthinkable,” Gallego said. “Today science brings hope. We know that testing, prevention and modern treatments mean people can live longer and healthier lives.”

Muralists Jake Early and Quinn Murphy drew inspiration for the commissioned piece from personal connections to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. One of Early’s family members contracted HIV in the 1980s as a nurse, and played a pivotal role in shaping the vision for the artwork.

“I have a close family member who was one of the very first health care workers to ever contract HIV through a pin prick,” Early said. “She was working on the HIV/AIDS floor of a San Francisco hospital in 1986, and she survived. She’s spent the last 35 to 40 years as a nurse taking care of HIV patients as well as taking care of herself.”

Drawing from the experiences of Early’s family member and others impacted by the virus, the artists sought to create a visual representation of these stories.

“I tried to take her experience and those of her friends and other people she’s connected us with and people here, taking what they said and trying to make it visual,” Early said.

Community members had the opportunity to contribute the final touches of the mural by participating in the spray-painting process.

The mural was commissioned by Phoenix in partnership with the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, Southwest Center, one n ten and Aunt Rita’s Foundation with support by Artlink Inc.

For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

---

Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News. It is published via a Creative Commons license. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

---