In honor of World AIDS Day and Day With(out) Art, the Gainesville Solar Walk's sculptures and benches on Northwest Eighth Avenue were shrouded in black plastic to make passersby consider a world without light.
Day With(out) Art was first held in 1989 as a national day to raise awareness of AIDS and inspire positive action by shutting down museums, said Erin Friedberg, the city's visual arts coordinator.
The art world has felt the impact of the AIDS crisis, and many creative people cope with the disease, she said.
Gainesville began participating in the event two years ago when Gainesville's Art in Public Places Trust program first shrouded the solar walk's sun statue.
Monday was the first time the entire walk was covered. Friedberg said it creates a more dramatic impact.
The covered sculptures were accompanied by signs to explain the exhibit's purpose to the 18,500 people who travel on Northwest Eighth Avenue every day.
Some people stopped to ask what was happening.
Friedberg said the goal was to make people question and take action.
Gay Koehler-Sides, a senior human services program manager from the Alachua County Health Department, set up a table near the Pluto sculpture to answer questions and provide information.
Armed with condoms, HIV pamphlets and a contact sheet of community-based organizations that offer HIV counseling and testing, Koehler-Sides spoke to people in a couple of cars who stopped to ask questions.
Florida, with its large population and high number of immigrants, has the third highest concentration of people with AIDS in the nation, she said.
Koehler-Sides said her goal was to encourage people to get tested and know their status.
