Bay Windows - October 14, 2004
Thomas Garvey

For there's Fay - puckered but still plucky at 96 - peering out with the same come-hither look she once gave a certain gorilla, from a giant, vibrant print by Peter Urban. "Bid on me," her bottomless eyes seem to say, and in fact there's still just time to do your bit for the silver screen's scream queen and the AAC, too.

But then there's so many other startling works of art from which to choose. For the dear, departed Miss Wray is the star of only one of some 250 paintings, prints, and photographs currently filling the Cyclorama. You can stop by through Saturday to check out the goods in the flesh - or ogle them on the web at www.aac.org/art. But if you want to take something home with you, you'll have to make a bid Thursday night. That means joining the ritzy, "creative black-tie" crowd at the Cyclorama starting at 5:30 for a tasty buffet, followed by the live auction at 7 and silent auctions till 10:15 (but hurry, tickets are almost gone call 617-424-9255 for availability). Or if there happens to be ketchup on your black tie, you can still join the auction action by phoning coordinator Brit White at 617-450-1527 and bidding by proxy (be aware, though, that you'll have to cough up either the cash, a check, or a credit card).

Of course you can always simply stop by during the day and savor the creativity that Boston artists have been lavishing on the AIDS Action Committee for some twenty years. This is the twelfth ARTcetera to be held since the auction's founding in 1984; in that time the benefit has raised some $3,500,000 for programs both to combat the disease and serve the needs of its victims. This year's goal (which includes both proceeds from the auction and a related patron campaign) is a cool half million, which Event Chair Bernard Toale feels confident is within reach. And since ARTcetera keeps its expenses low (the artists receive nothing but love for their work, as do the framers and most of the staff), the vast majority of its revenue goes right to those in need.

Toale, who serves on the AAC board, admits funding the committee's fight against AIDS is a special challenge in times as lean as these, and ARTcetera provides a crucial piece of its budget. This year AAC has revamped its mission to commit itself to actually ending the epidemic, with a stronger emphasis than ever on prevention. This means extending its outreach to the newly-defined risk category of "MSMs" (that's Men who have Sex with Men), which includes black, Hispanic, and other minority men who have unprotected sex "on the down low," and who don't, or won't, identify as gay (even to themselves). Another challenge is the current rise in the abuse of crystal meth, the addictive amphetamine that's been tied to risky sexual behavior. And there's always the struggle for a clean needle exchange program, which (incredibly) is still being blocked by the state.

All in all, the crisis is hardly behind us - but there are other, more selfish reasons to visit the ARTcetera auction. To stroll among these images is to gain a quick introduction to most of the local arts community (and their dealers). The regional heavy hitters (Michael Mazur, Joel Janowitz, Abelardo Morrell) jostle each other in the live auction, while the silent auction offers equally accomplished work from both local stars (Catherine Kehoe, Michael David, Robert Siegelman) and up-and-comers (Evie Lovett, Rachel Perry Welty, and a host of others). What's striking about the collection, however, is its consistently high quality. "We insist on that," says Meredyth Hyatt Moses of the Clark Gallery, who every year assists with the "very challenging" installation of the live auction. "We tell them send us the best thing you've got in the studio, or send us nothing at all!"

From the look of the walls of the Cyclorama, Boston's artists have followed her instructions to the letter.

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