In a perfect world, I will meet someone I find terribly attractive. He’ll be smart, funny, successful, interesting and interested. The good morning text will arrive every day by 8, he will call every night before bed, make time for me even though he’s busy, all the while being a perfect gentleman. Never having felt this before, my heart tells me he’s “the one.” I dream of the day he will present me with the perfect ring. We will have the perfect house and the sweetest children you’ve ever seen.

But what if this seemingly perfect man sat me down and said, “I have HIV.” In an instant, all that “perfection” slips away. Unsure of how to feel, I think he’s the love of my life, shouldn’t I be there for him? But I want to have kids, I want to retire with my husband, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life afraid I’ll get it too, risk giving it to my children, and watch the man I love die young from his disease. Is that the deal breaker? What could I do? What would you do?

This is a question you may have already had to answer, or might have to eventually. It’s probable you’ve never considered the potential of your lover being HIV positive. Have you asked all your partners what their status was? Did you use a condom with every sexual encounter? How long has it been since you got tested? If you don’t have definite answers to the previous questions, now is the time to get serious about your sexual awareness. The CDC reports the number of people living with HIV infection in the United States (HIV prevalence) is higher than ever before. CDC has estimated that more than 1 million (1,106,400) adults and adolescents were living with HIV infection in the United States at the end of 2006, the most recent year for which national prevalence estimates are available.

The ability to accept someone and their HIV status is something Michelle Evans was forced to struggle with as a freshman in high school. Michelle explains that she just wanted to live life as teenager, be a little reckless and live in the present without thinking about the future. All of that changed after she got a boyfriend who was a senior in high school. After dating awhile she found out she was pregnant. A month from giving birth, she received an anonymous call that needed to get tested because she had sex with someone who was HIV positive. Only having been with one man, Michelle knew whom it came from. She got tested. Pregnant and now positive, she confronted her boyfriend. Why didn’t he tell her? Apparently, it was because of the way she answered his “hypothetical” question: “Say someone I know has a girlfriend who is pregnant, and he just found out that he’s HIV positive. What would you do in her situation?” Michelle answered, “I’d stop having sex with him.” To him, that was justification to never tell her. They broke up and Michelle gave birth to their son on August 1, 2003.

Michelle takes five pills a day to treat her HIV. Unaware of her status during her pregnancy, she was unable to prevent passing it to her son. He is now eight, and it was only recently that he learned he was HIV positive. Previously, he believed he was taking a lot vitamins, at different times of the day. When he decided to stop taking them, Michelle sat him down and explained what he had and why he takes medication. She used books tailored for children to aid her in this conversation. The guilt Michelle struggles with everyday causes a strain on their relationship. She tells me she does the best she can but fears it is not enough. To ensure her son gets all the love he deserves, he lives with his grandparents 15 minutes away.

Michelle is also a mom to two other boys, with another man. Her youngest son is about to celebrate his first birthday, and the other is almost two years old. With her medication, Michelle has an undetectable viral load. And by having c-sections with her youngest children, they were both born HIV negative. She has been involved with the father of her youngest children for seven years, never worn a condom and he has remained HIV negative. They have a unique family arrangement. They live together with their two children but are currently not together. They are open to seeing other people, but Michelle is doing what she can to make it work. They’re currently thinking of having a threesome. Michelle was clear about taking the necessary precautions, informing them of her HIV status, and discussing potential consequences prior to the act. Whomever joins them will be able to make an informed choice. When asked if a threesome was risky behavior, Michelle replied, “I believe that it’s a risky behavior on its own, but why should I not be able to live as a young adult just because of my condition?” Michelle explained that a threesome isn’t on her list of things to do but experimenting is; and if a threesome will make him happy, then she’ll try it.

Michelle feels like she’s settling for her current situation because of her status, but doesn’t want to move on. “I’m too afraid. I’m afraid of judgment. I’m afraid of people who won’t accept me. I’m afraid of people who say they accept me but they don’t.”

Former outlook intern Mackenzie met someone online, a man looking for love and hoping for acceptance. He was the first man Mackenzie had dated with HIV. Unlike Michelle, Mackenzie was informed of his date’s status, “He told me at the end of our first date. After wandering around the Short North and Campus for a while, we went back to my place and he sat me down with the very serious phrase, ‘There’s something I need to tell you.’ And that was when I found out. So, I guess I only didn’t know for one day of the 10 months we dated.”

When first learning about his new interest’s HIV status Mack says, “I was shocked, but mostly out of my own ignorance. I’d never known anyone before that was positive, or even knew of anyone. I wanted to know more, to understand and to be sure that we were safe. In the moment, right after he told me, I told him exactly what was true at that moment: that it didn’t change how I felt about him. Yes, I was scared, but how do you move forward without ever doing something that you’re afraid to do?”

The relationship ended but Mackenzie took something extremely valuable away from it, “I learned how to communicate better about sex and status. The experience reinforced the necessity of getting checked. I had a lot to mull on after we broke up. You usually do after a break up, but I had this whole first-positive-boyfriend thing floating around in my head, too. Dating him has only made me smarter about how I date.”

Whether you’re the one who has HIV or you’ve dated someone who is positive, getting into new relationships is hard enough, adding the stigma of HIV it could make it seem impossible. I wonder if more people thought like Mackenzie, would Michelle still be so afraid? Would the boyfriend that gave her HIV have told her when he found out? If everyone wanted to learn more and increase their understanding, would all people with HIV be more forth coming? Would people start protecting themselves and change their thinking to “this could happen to me?” Would this help decrease the spread of HIV? I believe it would.

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This month I had the opportunity to sit down with Tyler TerMeer, the new Director of the Ohio AIDS Coalition (OAC), which is now a division of the AIDS Resource Center of Ohio (ARC Ohio). Tyler is the Director of OAC, a cyclist, Ph.D. candidate, and young professional who has been living with HIV for the past eight years. Tyler shared some of his thoughts on Columbus, emerging trends dealing with HIV/AIDS in Ohio, OAC and a bit about his personal life.

Lauren Strand: Can you tell us a bit about your career trajectory and how you’ve come full-circle back to Columbus?

Tyler TerMeer: I was at OAC from 2004-2008 as the Director of Programs, where I oversaw aspects of educational and leadership programs for people living with HIV and providers in the field in Ohio, particularly with youths who were transitioning from pediatric healthcare to adult healthcare. I then moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 2008 to be the Director of Men’s and Youth Programs for Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, where I dealt mainly with prevention and infection reduction. Then, in 2010, I accepted a new position in Washington D.C. as a Manager in Prevention at the National Alliance of State and State and Territorial Directors (NASTAD). Finally, in November 2011, I accepted the position of Director of the Ohio Aids Coalition.

LS: What drew you back to OAC and Columbus?

TT: My family is from Dublin and is still there, and being close with them is very important to me, so I think that it was always in the cards for me to come back. Perhaps the most deciding factor for me to return to Columbus, and OAC in particular, was my friend and mentor Kevin Sullivan. Kevin was the former Executive Director of OAC and had always provided me with guidance and empowerment, both personally and professionally. When I left Columbus in 2008, he encouraged me to do so, so that I could learn new things to bring back to Ohio and our community some day.  With his passing earlier this year, it seemed fitting for me to continue his legacy in continuing to shape programs and policies in Ohio, while bringing with me the skills and knowledge that I had gained during the years that I was away from Ohio working on the national level.

LS: Are there any particular areas or new directions that you’re heading in the next few years at OAC?

TT: My main vision for the next three years is to prepare people living with HIV in Ohio for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014. While there are still some potential gray areas with the act, it’s exciting that for the first time, people with preexisting medical conditions, such as HIV, will be able to have health insurance.

Also, because 2012 is an election year, we’ll focus a lot of voter registration and voter education – we want to be a hub of information about potential political changes and what the political landscape will look like over the next few years for the community.

LS: Can you talk a bit about what is the mission of OAC and what particular programs our readers should be aware of?

TT: We definitely hold true to our mission of providing hope, healing and empowerment to people living with HIV/AIDS in the state of Ohio and providers in the field. Some of the ways we do this is through medical-based education where we provide opportunities for people living with HIV to learn about the epidemic, learn how to become their own advocate and how to stay on top of their medication. We also have community forums, leadership training sessions and healing weekends where people can come together in a safe environment to discuss their situations and share their knowledge, hope and healing strategies.

One particular program of interest that will take place in March of this year is the 7^th Annual Leadership Summit for HIV Positive Young Adults, ages 18-29. This annual event provides the educational tools and resources for young adults to cope with and accept their diagnosis, with the ultimate goal of recognizing that their positive status is just one aspect of their lives. Many of the future leaders within the HIV community have been shaped at the summit – applications are available on the OAC website.

LS: What trends are you noticing in Ohio relating to the HIV epidemic?

TT: There are two main trends that I’m noticing. First, there appears to be a “second wave” of the epidemic emerging, especially among young people who constitute the majority of new infections. Many young people are simply not aware of the risky situations that they are placing themselves in. I think part of this could be remedied through more compressive sex education in schools and also more sex-positive discussions, both in schools and in the home.

A second trend is that many long-term survivors who have been exposed to a variety of medications to treat HIV are developing illness such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and kidney failure. This really speaks to the point that the continuum of HIV care is not just about managing HIV, but is also about managing other areas of health that intersect with HIV and ensuring that HIV treatments do not negatively effect other areas of the peoples’ health.

LS: What else are you involved with outside of OAC, what do you do in your free time?

TT: Well, I currently serve on the Board of Directors for the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA), Advocates for Youth (AFY) and Positive Pedalers (PosPeds). I’m also a dedicated cyclist and am participating in AIDS LifeCycle (ALC) for the fourth consecutive year, which means that I train regularly. LifeCycle is a seven-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money and awareness for the fight against HIV/AIDS. In 2011, cyclists raised over $13 million for the cause, which makes it one of the largest fundraisers for HIV/AIDS in the country. Finally, I’m also a Doctoral Student, pursuing my Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration with a concentration in Organizational Leadership at Walden University.

Tyler and OAC, a division of ARC, would love to hear from people living with HIV in Ohio or service providers in the field about ways that the HIV/AIDS community could be better served or ways in which Ohioans could better connect with national initiatives. Please visit www.ohioaidscoalition.org for more information.

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HIV infection rates are on the rise. That’s not just globally. That’s here. The United States, Ohio, Columbus, The Short North.

Why?

What has three decades of the largest epidemic in human history failed to teach us? Why do we still insist on carelessness that hurts ourselves and, more often than not, those closest to us too? It may come as no surprise that new infection rates are up among younger men. After all, we pretend that the AIDS crisis is over and don’t properly educate young people who didn’t grow up during its darkest years. But what can explain the rise in new infections in men over 40? The people who grew up with this on their TV every day. How can we possibly account for this swelling population?

There are a couple, smaller factors which contribute to the increase. In older adults, there is still a stigma that HIV/AIDS is a gay problem. This stigma often keeps them from getting tested or even thinking that they are at risk for infection. And if you doubt the power of stigma, it’s the same reason HIV infection rates are rising alarmingly in young black men. In some black communities, the fear of being perceived as gay keeps away those who need help the most. Even our perceived notions of intravenous drug users are wrong. They are not all dying off from usage, the population there is aging, too. On top of that, the age of first injection for heroin users is getting older.

One of the major factors, believe it or not, is still sex education. People over 40 do have sex, now more than ever. Stereotypes persist, however, of the sexless aging adult. Health professionals often omit safe sex counseling for their older patients because of how they are perceived. Just as it became apparent that sex education for children was necessary, we must also let go of our stereotypes of older adults.

One particularly disturbing study by Professor Zehava Grossman at Tel Aviv University in Israel revealed a main cause for the upswing in infection rates. By analyzing the molecular makeup of HIV strains in newly infected adults, Grossman discovered that most of them received the virus from an already medicated adult. Their strains were drug-resistant, and the only way to receive a drug-resistant strain is from a person already taking medication for it. The partners who infected them either A) did not disclose their status, or B) disclosed and they threw caution to the wind anyway.

Israel has seen an increase of 500% in new HIV cases in the past decade from the 1990s. Sadly, this number closely reflects the trends in other developed countries. So if one of the main causes of infection is contraction from an individual who already knows their status, then more often than not they and their partner simply did not care enough. Medication does not mean that HIV is no longer contagious. And, as indicated by Grossman’s study, most new HIV infections she studied in Israel could be traced back to a common source. This means that there were a handful of infected adults delivering the virus to most of the new patients.

I have personally met a few men in Columbus who will disclose their positive status, and then insist on bareback anal sex, or nothing else. To their credit, these few men are perfect gentlemen outside of that. They are even beyond normal, they care quite a bit about some things. But their sexual behavior is utterly reprehensible. Lust will make you agree to stupid things – not that their partners are any less guilt-free. It is equally the responsibility of each to use a condom. Further, if their partners are willing to have unprotected sex with someone they know is positive, how much unprotected sex will they have with negative partners before they get tested?

Many gay men are in search of that perfect life, the perfect night, the perfect fuck. A recent study commissioned by Central YMCA, the Succeed Foundation and the Centre for Appearance Research at UWE Bristol reveals deep body image problems in the gay community, and a lot about our willingness to sacrifice for sex. 48% of gay men would sacrifice a year or more of their lives in exchange for a perfect body. There is some kind of inherent short-term thinking in the gay community if that’s how we really feel. Since the perfect body is a means for the perfect sex, just think about how many concessions you’d be willing to make on that point. No, really. Think about it. How much would you sacrifice just to get laid?

Here’s what we can do to help curb infection rates.

• Work with other community resources to encourage HIV and other STI testing. And I mean think outside the box. Churches, assisted living, the VFW.

• Increase sex education and HIV/AIDS education, particularly on the primary care level.

• Stop going after the perfect fuck. You and your body are #1, don’t sacrifice that for anything or anybody.

• Insist on safe sex.

The media may think this thing is over, but we’re not even over the hump of this crisis yet.

Mackenzie Worrall is doing all the things in 2012. Stay tuned to this bio for more information.

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When Mark went to the health department in 2007, he had a feeling something was wrong. For weeks leading up to his diagnosis, he had flu-like symptoms, was excessively tired and had swollen lymph nodes. It was an episode of Noah’s Ark that encouraged him to go see a doctor. He went into the clinic and got tested, then waited several days for the results. When he was finally called back in, something in the back of his mind knew the answer.

“I believe in signs, and in the health department’s office were all these posters about HIV and STDs,” explained Mark. The nurse informed him that he was HIV-positive on the 11^th of January, just over four years ago. Shortly after that, Mark told his friends and family, and began to adjust to his new reality.

People with HIV are people first, and although that seems silly to say, in our community there is still stigma attached to being HIV-positive. In 2011, an HIV-positive student was denied entrance into the Hershey School in Pennsylvania, because of the potential risk to students that school officials perceived by having a HIV-positive student. All of us know what HIV is, but do we know what it’s like for someone who has it? And how do we replace stigma with compassion and awareness? For me, it meant putting a face on the illness. Mark was one of those faces.

I was one of the friends Mark confided in five years ago. Before then, I had never known anyone who was HIV-positive, and I found myself at a loss. I didn’t know what to say or how to be supportive. It became tangible, and hit close to home. At that moment, I realized that HIV could impact anyone, and it changes their life forever. From health and wellness, to disclosure, to dating and relationships, being HIV-positive can have impact in your life in many ways. Mark, as a newly HIV-positive person, now had to deal with the aftermath.

“My friends were very supportive,” explained Mark. “The hard part was that I had to go home and tell my mother.” Knowing who, when and how to tell people close to you can be more difficult than coming to terms with the illness yourself.

Disclosure is a personal matter that each person must handle in his or her own way. Since stigma in the community still exists with regard to HIV, there is no right or common way to tell people. Clinical Director at ARC Ohio Sherry Inskeep says that it’s important to consider the reasons behind disclosing first and foremost.

“The first question you want to ask yourself is: why are you telling this person? Why do they need to know?” Inskeep explained. In Ohio, because of a law written seemingly to protect HIV-negative people, HIV-positive individuals must disclose their status before engaging in sexual relations with another person because of the potential risk for infection. Outside of that, whom you tell and when you tell is your business.

“I don’t just go up to everyone I meet and say, ‘Hi. My name is Mark. I’m HIV-positive,’” Mark exclaimed. He did tell the people close to him, and some couldn’t handle it. But he took those setbacks in stride. “The people that walk away, or the people that turn away from you, were not your true friends to begin with. That’s how you find out who the true players are,” Mark added. That process can be difficult, however. Mark said that even today, people still stigmatize people living with the disease, in just a few simple words.

“If you’re online and you are looking at profiles, and one says, ‘You must be clean, drug and disease free,’ you think, what does that mean? I’m clean. I take showers,” Mark laughed. Although he was making light of the situation, the perception of HIV-positive people as “dirty” is a major stigma placed on the community, and leaves many to feel isolated, especially when it comes to dating. He explained that people don’t know what they don’t know, and many people don’t proactively seek the information, which causes a lot of negativity in the community.

Because of Mark’s previous exposure to HIV, by having an HIV-positive partner in the past, he was more prepared to deal with the life changes than most. He knew about the disease, and was prepared to handle the new reality. Education about HIV, whether you are positive or negative is important, but it’s critical for those impacted by HIV directly or indirectly through relationships. Dena Boggs, Comprehensive Risk & Counseling Services Counselor at ARC Ohio says that knowing the basics is important. “I often times encourage people to get a really comfortable confidence about HIV 101, how it can be transmitted and more importantly, how it can’t,” Boggs explained. Much of the misconceptions surrounding HIV stem from bad information, and counteracting bad information with good information is the key to reducing stigma.

The major piece of the aftermath was dealing with the medically-induced lifestyle changes that must occur for HIV-positive people to maintain a healthy lifestyle. HIV is an illness that compromises the immune system, making it harder for you to fight off infections. “Your health becomes your main priority,” said Inskeep. “Before, if you were sick you might let it go, but now you are going to pay more attention to it. Whereas you may not have gone to the doctor before, you will need to find a doctor that you can build a good relationship with, and you are going to see them regularly.”

Mark goes to the doctor regularly to have blood work done. For about a year and a half after diagnosis, he was able to go with taking medication, and now takes one pill a day, every day. This medication helps the body maintain resistance against the virus, keeping the viral load low. Taking the medication has caused him to be more focused on having routine in his daily activities, but doesn’t keep him from living life. His life overall hasn’t changed, but he has had to make adjustments, both to routine and finances. Mark’s medication costs around $1500 out of pocket, and without the services provided because of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program. Inskeep says that this program, a federal grant for communities to meet the needs of people with HIV/AIDS and their families, funds medications, medical services and other needs for people living with HIV/AIDS.

I am sure there are many people like I was, living an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality in which HIV was compartmentalized into something that didn’t affect me. That compartmentalization causes insensitivity to not only the illness, but to the people who have it. At this point, I have a different perspective, mainly because of my friend who chose to confide in me, enabling me to see things differently – to see things through his eyes. In order to have compassion, you have to have understanding. Because it could be your friend, your family member, your fraternity brother or co-worker. It could be you. But most of us, who are HIV-negative, have no idea what an HIV-positive person encounters unless we are connected to someone with the illness. And we have a responsibility to support our brothers and sisters living with HIV, to be responsible, and sensible, and to mitigate the stigma and misinformation with solidarity and education. For Mark’s sake and the sake of millions of other people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

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With the AIDS-related death toll well over 25 million since 1981, the race to find a vaccine has been an urgent, unsteady and particularly unsuccessful one.

In the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, very little was known about how the virus was transmitted, and even less was known about how it was caused. When the virus was isolated in 1985, Margaret Heckler, the United States Human Services Secretary at the time, infamously declared, “We hope to have a vaccination [against AIDS] ready for testing in about two years.” Ahem, about that…

In all fairness to Heckler, at the time, no one could have possibly imagined just how much of a handful the virus would turn out to be. Even today, leading researchers agree that the development of an AIDS vaccine still has a long way to go, a search that could possibly last for decades.

To put it simply, HIV is not like any other common disease. The traditional vaccination method of controlling various viral diseases by preparing the adaptive immune system to recognize the envelope proteins of a virus have been ineffective. There are a number of factors that continue to stall the progress of the creation of a vaccination and why it requires different tactics of development compared to other diseases:

• HIV is a daily risk while most vaccines protect against infections that are infrequently encountered.

• Vaccines mimic natural infections, during which the body produces antibodies that kill the virus. But unlike other diseases, HIV doesn’t stimulate this kind of response. Our immune systems are virtually blind to the virus and are unable to effectively launch an antibody attack.

• To properly develop a vaccine that can mimic natural immunity against re-infection, a model must be observed to understand how a virus mutates. However, because no one has fully recovered from an HIV infection, there are no natural strategies to study.

• Isolated HIV strands are distinctly irregular and inconsistent. HIV can be categorized into a multitude of different subtypes with a high degree of differentiation. Therefore, the immune response caused by a vaccine needs to be comprehensive to account for this level of unpredictability, otherwise the vaccine will likely be ineffective.

• With so many complex factors hindering scientific medicinal progress for over two decades, it would seem that the prospect of creating a major restorative breakthrough would be relatively inconceivable; not that that’s stopped people from trying. Since 1987, there have been hundreds of attempts at creating a vaccination, with only about 30 candidates make the cut to undergo the comprehensive clinical trials. According to The HIV Vaccine Trials Network, the trials consists of three phases:

• Phase I: A small number of healthy, uninfected participants at low risk of HIV infection, and primarily tests the safety of the preventive vaccine. Usually lasts 12-18 months.

• Phase II: Hundreds of participants with varying degrees of risk to better characterize the safety of the vaccine and the immune response being caused by the vaccine. This can typically last 2 or more years.

• Phase III: Involves several thousand high-risk volunteers to further assess if the vaccine works in preventing HIV infection. Phase III trials can last 3-5 years.

• Along with these phases, it must be certain that volunteers in clinical trials cannot get HIV infection or AIDS by receiving an experimental vaccine.

It goes without saying that a vaccine has yet to have cleared all three phases but there have been a few notable exceptions. The most well known being The ALVAC/AIDSVAX trials, first started in 1991 and concluded in 2009, with a majority of test subjects being American men who have sex with men (MSM). While the results were mixed, the conductors of the study were able to conclude their vaccine prevented HIV infection by 31%. Not enough to be completely optimistic about, nor enough for The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve it, but it’s a valiant effort. Though the results were far from ideal, the ALVAC/AIDSVAX trial marked one of the first important milestones in the seemingly never-ending race.

According to the United States FDA, there are currently two Phase II, three Phase I/II, and seventeen Phase I ongoing clinical trials of preventive HIV vaccine candidates taking place. Most recently, in December 2011, the FDA approved Canadian researcher Dr. Chil-Yong Kang’s vaccine for human testing trials. Using a whole HIV virus that’s been killed, as opposed to using different components of the strand as seen in other cases, Kang is confident this will make the end result more effective. “I feel that I have a better chance to have this vaccine work because it has demonstrated that this strategy works for polio, hepatitis A, flu virus, rabies virus and Japanese encephalitis,” Kang explains. “And there are 16 other animal virus vaccines using the killed whole virus strategy. They work to prevent infection.”

Could this be the much needed and long awaited advancement the world has been eagerly awaiting? It’s hard to say. Any new discovery needs to undergo trials lasting years, and must then be distributed around the world before its full benefits will be seen.

Though development may be slow and difficult, it is far too soon to give up hope. HIV was only discovered in the mid 1980s and it took many years to create vaccines against other diseases. Given the speed of technological and scientific progress, there truly is no end in sight as to what can be accomplished.

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Twenty-seven years ago this April, Larry Kramer’s angry, inspiring and prophetic play about AIDS, The Normal Heart, premiered in New York City. This work encapsulated the indescribable despair and decimation wrought by AIDS that permeated the LGBT community in the early 1980s.

The horror and pain of that hellish era have begun to fade from the collective memory of those who lived through it. For younger generations, there has never been a time without HIV or the effective treatments introduced since the 1990s – and therefore no real understanding of what that time was like.

In three tumultuous decades we’ve made breathtaking progress. Today, we stand at the threshold of even more advances.

Consider this: There is a growing number of scientists, advocates, health officials and service providers who are openly saying something we couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago. It is this: Short of a cure, we now know everything we need to know to effectively end the modern HIV/AIDS epidemic. Not just “stem the tide” of HIV. Not just “reduce infections.” But actually end the plague that’s haunted us these last three decades.

But what challenges must we conquer to achieve “the new possible?”

Even with tests that provide results in just a few minutes, one-fifth of all HIV-positive Americans are unaware they are infected, and it is largely these individuals who are unknowingly transmitting the virus. And one-in-three individuals in the US who test positive for HIV is diagnosed too late to take full advantage of the effective treatment now available.

Columbus now has the highest rate of HIV in Ohio, and the 25^th highest in the nation. Every 25 hours in Central Ohio someone is newly-infected with HIV and here, as nationwide, two-thirds of these continue to be among gay and bisexual men. Gay and bi men (or Men Who Have Sex with Men, MSM) are the only group in the U.S. in which HIV rates continue to increase. This is especially true among young MSM.

As a gay man who has spent most of my adult life living under the shadow of HIV, I find this disturbing, frustrating and disheartening. We will never achieve an “AIDS-Free Generation” if we do not eliminate HIV infection among gay and bisexual men. And we will never reduce HIV transmission among MSM without addressing complacency, stigma and the lack of rights, privileges and legal protections for LGBT people and same-gender couples.

With early diagnosis and treatment, a person with HIV is less likely to transmit the virus and can now expect to live about as long as an uninfected individual. Yet only 28 percent of HIV-positive Americans are receiving effective care needed to keep the virus under control. In Ohio and across the U.S. there are still too many people with HIV/AIDS who face obstacles accessing and staying in care. The recurring crises in funding of state AIDS medication programs are one of the factors that contribute to treatment instability.

Achieving the “new possible” in HIV/AIDS will require structural changes to facilitate better access to prevention, optimal health care, adherence counseling, behavioral health and other “wrap-around” services for those living with HIV, including marginalize populations.

The work ahead will be carried out in a starkly different landscape than the recent past. AIDS service organizations will have to restructure and re-tool to address the evolving epidemic, at a time when resources are thin and unlikely to improve anytime soon. This fact is evident in the number of ASOs facing significant funding challenges, and contemplating mergers, alliances, and even closures. Failure to adapt – especially linking services to medical care- means that organizations are at high risk of closing or disrupting vital services.

For ARC Ohio, responding to these challenges and opportunities has led to several significant, recent developments.

As many outlook readers already know, ARC Ohio merged with the Columbus AIDS Task Force and the Ohio AIDS Coalition last summer. With nine offices, we now provide testing, prevention, linkage to medical care and other direct services across two-thirds of Ohio; and patient advocacy and education for the entire state. These moves have been thoughtful and intentional, designed to enhance our capacity to serve and survive in troubled times.

ARC Ohio was also just awarded a multi-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement evidence-based HIV prevention, community-building, and sexual health programming for MSM, especially MSM of Color, in central Ohio. What this means is that a community at growing HIV risk will finally get some of the prevention resources they deserve.

ARC Ohio has been a forceful advocate on a wide range of issues, including two that are of current, critical importance in Ohio: mobilizing to ensure that the Ohio HIV/AIDS Drug Assistance Program (OHDAP) is adequately funded to provide care to those who need it the most; and fighting to ensure that gay and bisexual men – who comprise two-thirds of Ohio HIV cases but have received only one-third of state prevention funding – have a fair portion of state resources needed to truly win the battle against new HIV infections.

ARC Ohio is now in the process of adding medical services, pharmacy and adherence counseling to our menu of care. This will allow us to integrate care and treatment, prevention services, and advocacy into one, seamless tapestry of programming, and will allow people living with and at risk of HIV to get what they need without undue barriers or fragmentation.

Finally, ARC Ohio always has been, and will continue to be, a community organization. Our services, relationships and resources will be carried out and invested right here, in the communities in which we live.

Our work isn’t over. But the task will end someday, if we refocus our energies and recommit to the same, ultimate goal. Fatigue and complacency must give way to new resolve and vigor: A world without AIDS is not a fantasy, but possible, and now within our grasp.

Bill Hardy is President and CEO of AIDS Resource Center Ohio, the state’s leading provider of HIV awareness, advocacy and care. He is now in his twentieth year with the organization.

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The last couple years have been pretty exciting for Columbus. Remember when Zombieland revolved around trying to get to the charred remains of our city? Finally, a popular piece of fiction seen by millions that uses Columbus instead of Cleveland! Sure, Cleveland used to be the fifth biggest city in the US (almost a hundred years ago), and it still has a kick-ass museum and well-financed arts scene. However, Columbus has the groundswell of an astounding indie arts movement. We’re succeeding and redefining what makes a city great.

At a Columbus2020! talk (which I’ve so far heard twice, and I keep going back), we were instructed as an audience to stop saying ‘Ohio’. What does that mean? Well when you introduce yourself to someone and they ask where you live, simply say ‘Columbus’. We are ALL guilty of saying, ‘Columbus, OH’.

As opposed to what? Columbus, Georgia? When has anyone ever confused the two? Do people say ‘Chicago, Illinois’ or ‘San Francisco, California’? Hell, no one even says ‘Minneapolis, Minnesota’ – it’s just ‘Minneapolis’. We can’t say our city’s name without the state. Nothing against Ohio, but Columbus is ubiquitous enough on its own now. As proven by this year’s NewNowNext Awards.

I would hesitate to call the NNN a ‘coveted’ award, but that’s mostly because it’s only been around for four years, they’re thrown by bastion of reliable news LOGO, and they include the award category “Because You’re Hot.” In spite of all that, the categories become a little more factual each year, and LOGO is now a basic cable channel for us gays (and lesbians, but mostly gays). Like Columbus, it’s starting to become a big deal.

Most importantly, people voted for Columbus to win. It wasn’t just a couple travel writers who loved us (though I’m sure the city hosting a gaggle of gay travel writers this year got us the nom), and it wasn’t just the local gays who voted (though I’m sure that having more LGBTs per capita than Chicago didn’t hurt either). What made us the top travel destination in the world for 2011 was, unsurprisingly, all the travel people do to get here. 200,000 people at Pride. Some large smattering of people for Halloween Highball. 50,000 for the NAGAAA World Series – which was not just the largest gay sporting event ever held in Ohio, but simply the largest sporting event. Don’t forget all those hot pieces of ass that you, our lovely readers, brought home with you to Arch City.

No seriously. That helps. Keep up the good work.

Our competition included Baku, Azerbaijan; Cartagena, Colombia; Florianopolis, Brazil; Istanbul, Turkey; and St. Petersburg, Russia. Granted, I’ve only heard of a few of those before. But the ones I do know bring fierce competition. Like, take your weave and earrings out fierce.

The award (or maybe just the national recognition, I’ll settle for that) comes at an opportune time. 2012 is Columbus’ bicentennial. Well, Valentine’s Day to be exact. This year, instead of taking a date to your apartment for wine and pizza, take them on a tour of the Statehouse, and then find a quiet bathroom stall – maybe Kasich will already be in there?

Just kidding! Everyone knows he watches us like the Eye of Sauron from atop the Riffe Center, not the Statehouse.

For the bicentennial, Mayor Coleman increased the annual budget of Experience Columbus, and specifically listed the LGBT community as a travel target. To learn more about how we court the gays who may not have even heard of us, or of our award, I talked to Brian Cheek at Experience Columbus.

If you’re just joining us halfway through this article, or have been living under a rock, Columbus is throwing some parties next year. 200Columbus is an organization leading this city-wide effort. “Our goal is simply to inspire everyone with greater pride and engagement in the city’s progress,” Brian says, “which will serve as a foundation for national and global recognition of Columbus as a premier place to live, work and visit.”

Outside of being a resident of Columbus, this does affect you as an LGBTQ person. Because 200Columbus doesn’t just celebrate the city, it celebrates the people who live here – all of us. We are a huge part of an already diverse and open metropolis. It is the goal of the Mayor, and the goal of everyone here, to celebrate that rich cultural quilt that’s made our city amazing.

So what does that mean? How will the budget raise help to court gay travel? “Should the City, County and businesses invest more into the Destination Columbus plan, parts of which are launching during 200Columbus, groups like Experience Columbus will be able to do more to tell our city’s story nationally and internationally.” This means Baku, Florianopolis, and the rest will be hearing from us.

“This is something that has never happened in a broad, aggressive and collaborative way in Columbus’ past, and we need to quit being so humble,” Brian says, echoing what Columbus2020! has to say. “The marketing is framed around the fact that Columbus is a great city, with an impressive creative class and a welcoming attitude. The LGBT community’s stories are central to that reality. We believe Columbus has been ignored too long and we want our story to be heard. This isn’t just key to lifting our sense of pride and unity, but it also is important to long-term economic development”

2012’s list of fabulously gay visitors so far includes the International Gay Bowling Organization, the Miss Gay America Pageant, the International Association of Gay/Lesbian Country Western Dance Clubs, and Prime Timers International. And there will be more, if Brian assures me. “We are also meeting with individuals involved with the Gay Games being held in Cleveland in 2014 in hopes to attract attendees from that event to also visit Columbus. Columbus is earning national credit as a top LGBT destination and we are not going to stop working to grow this market.”

There’s something for everyone to get excited about next year! Before long, Columbus will be just as iconically gay as New York, San Francisco or Ibiza. Every push brings us more international recognition for what we already are. Columbus was recently nominated for “Best Settle Down City” in the “Best of GayCities 2011” competition. And don’t take that as a snub to the party scene, but as acknowledgement that we have far more to offer in addition to that! Voting is open until January 4th. So if you’re a loyal outlook fan and picked up your issue early, there’s still time! Get online and support the growth of Columbus.

Mackenzie Worrall changes his bio every month, but doubts that anyone has caught on yet. This month’s fun fact: He’s bringing back ‘Arch City’ as the official nickname for Columbus.

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Making history is nothing new to the GLBT community. Our fight to be recognized as equal has been the source of literature for longer than many of us can remember. In 2011, we made a different type of history with the release of the first Who’s Who in GLBT Columbus. Instead of focusing on the ills within our community, the social problems, or the fight for marriage rights, this book focuses on the individuals that make up the Columbus GLBT community. Our community. It tells our story in words and pictures, and gives faces to the initials that label us.

Who’s Who in GLBT Columbus was a joint effort from Outlook Media and Who’s Who Publications, the publishers of Who’s Who in Black Columbus and Who’s Who in Latino Columbus, as well as a host of other publications across the country highlighting community leaders of color in major cities across the United States. This book is the first of its kind in the world featuring GLBT people specifically, and it should be no surprise that Columbus is the pioneer.

“I think that it is an honor that [the Columbus] community is the first community that is doing it. And I think that it is a testament to the work that people have been doing for 10, 20, 30 years to make our community welcome in the city of Columbus first, and then accepted and then a part of the fabric of the community,” remarked Ed Mullen, Executive Director of Equality Ohio and Who’s Who honoree. Submissions to the book were voluntary and free, in order to encourage as much participation as possible. It is a reflection of a small, but proud group of individuals who dared to be first.

Another honoree, Columbus attorney Scot Dewhirst, thought that the book allowed the community more visibility into its own membership, connecting people who may not have known each other before. “One of the things that we often find is that we don’t even know each other. And this [book] is a way for us to get to know each other better and what kinds of things we have done in the community,” said Dewhirst.

Linda Flickinger, Executive Administrator with the Ohio Supercomputer Center, shared the same sentiment as Dewhirst.

“For our community it brings us together. It helps us see who all the people are in our community…and how we are impacting Central Ohio,” stated Flickinger. And, she feels that the book shows how similar GLBT people are to the community at large.

“We’re just like everyone else…we’re not that different. Now, we have our own unique place in society and we are already incorporated into every aspect of the community. We are leaders in so many ways,” Flickinger added.

The book featured over 150 local GLBT personalities from different walks of life, comprising different racial, ethnic, gender and socioeconomic backgrounds. Some are prominent figures in GLBT politics and society, while others are everyday people in our community. It is this diversity that is the book’s strength – sending the simple, yet powerful message that “We Are Here.”

Publishers from Outlook Columbus and Who’s Who revealed the 216-page publication during a fabulous event at Shadowbox Cabaret. The unveiling ceremony was filled with remarks from some of Columbus’ public and private leaders, some of which had a major hand in the development of the publication. The Master of Ceremonies was Michael Daniels, co-publisher and Business Manager of Outlook Media, and many community members came to the stage to talk about the importance of the publication for our community. Many of the people in attendance were honorees, but others came just to share in what the event represented.

“This is a symbiosis of community for me,” explained Troy Harris, who attended the event to represent United Way. In fact, this project is a symbiosis of the efforts of many people, community groups and corporate sponsors who joined together to help mark this point in history for the GLBT Columbus community. Representatives from Nationwide, The Ohio State University, Abercrombie & Fitch, Donato’s Pizza and other major organizations pledged resources and sponsorship to help bring this book to light. Speakers during the event included Todd Corely, Executive Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at Abercrombie and Fitch; Tom Grote, CFO of ButylFuel; Mary Jo Hudson, former city councilwoman and attorney; and Joyce Beatty, Senior Vice President for Outreach and Engagement at The Ohio State University.

“At the University, whether it’s a student, whether it’s a faculty member, whether it’s an administrator, we believe in equal rights. We are grounded in those principles that are forefathers gave us. We have an obligation for all of us to understand: we are in this together, and we must be together,” stated Beatty.

According to Corley, the publication of Who’s Who in GLBT Columbus is right in line with diversity issues that are important to Abercrombie, and participation in this project was a “no brainer.” “This has been sitting on the shelf as a concept for a very long time. It hasn’t always been the right time to do it, for many different reasons,” explained Corley.

A by-product of the release of Who’s Who in GLBT Columbus, like other Who’s Who publications is the 1000 books for 1000 kids campaign. This initiative sets out to bring books like Who’s Who in GLBT Columbus to the children who will benefit from their message of community and pride. The goal is to place a copy of this book into local schools, GSAs, libraries and other locations so that kids can access them, and see GLBT role models from the community. That message hit hard with Outlook Columbus co-publisher and Editor-in-Chief Chris Hayes, who cited the campaign as a major motivation for working with Who’s Who on the book

“Growing up I never had any good books or role models. When I went to the library, trying to figure out if I was gay or not, the only thing I could look up were that we were a mental illness,” stated Hayes. Hayes grew up in Findlay, Ohio, where there was no visibility of GLBT youth growing up. Getting this book into communities like Findlay where kids can see positive GLBT individuals is a hallmark of the campaign.

Outlook Media and Who’s Who Publications are very proud to make history with the inaugural edition of Who’s Who in GLBT Columbus. To participate in the 1000 Books for 1000 Kids campaign, or to purchase your own copy of the hottest coffee table book this season, visit the website at http://whoswhoinglbtbooks.com.

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Exhibit: Monet to Matisse: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Sirak Collection

9-23-2011 thru 5-13-2012

Columbus Museum of Art

Exhibit: Columbus Views

9-30-2011 thru 5-27-2012

Columbus Museum of Art

Exhibit: Caravaggio: Behold the Man!

11-9-2011 thru 2-5-2012

Columbus Museum of Art

Concourse Gallery Exhibit

12-20-2011 thru 1-27-2012

Concourse Gallery

Columbus Blue Jackets Hockey vs. Washington Capitals

12-31-2011

Nationwide Arena

First Night Columbus

12-31-2011

Throughout Downtown

ProMusica Chamber Orchestra: Celebrate! A New Year’s Eve Performance

12-31-2011

Southern Theatre

Exhibit: Good Design in Hard Times

1-10-2012 thru 2-4-2012

OSU Urban Arts Space

Exhibit: Global Textile Trades

1-11-2012 thru 2-11-2012

Gladys Keller Snowden Galleries

Exhibit: Cityscapes Yesteryear

1-12-2012 thru 3-10-2012

The King Arts Complex

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Breakfast

1-16-2012

Greater Columbus Convention Center

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

1-16-2012

Veterans Memorial and City Hall

MLK Day Open House

1-16-2012

The King Arts Complex

Restaurant Week Columbus

1-16-2012 thru 1-21-2012

Throughout Columbus

Columbus Cartoonists: A Bicentennial Celebration

1-23-2012 thru 4-27-2012

Reading Room Gallery, The Ohio State University

Exhibit: 100 Years of Art: Celebrating Columbus’ Legacy

1-26-2012 thru 4-15-2012

Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery

Race: Are We So Different?

1-28-2012 thru 5-6-2012

COSI

The Women’s Sports Report presented by Key Bank

2-1-2012

The River Club at Confluence Park

BalletMet, Jazz Arts Group and WOSU present Jazz Moves Columbus

2-2-2012 thru 2-12-2012

Capitol Theatre, Riffe Center

200Columbus The Bicentennial Birthday – a Celebration of the Centuries

2-10-2012

Battelle Grand, Greater Columbus Convention Center

200Columbus Days

2-11-2012 thru 2-15-2012

Throughout Central Ohio

200Columbus Family Weekend

2-11-2012 thru 2-12-2012

COSI

2012 Bicentennial Artists’ inFormal

2-11-2012

Cultural Arts Center

The Ruby Elzy Story

2-11-2012

Lincoln Theatre

New Albany Symphony: Portraits of a Columbus Bicentennial

2-12-2012

Jeanne B. McCoy Center for the Arts

Columbus Blue Jackets Hockey vs. St. Louis Blues

2-14-2012

Nationwide Arena

WOSU Presents Columbus Neighborhoods: Franklinton/Downtown Premiere

2-14-2012

Ohio Theatre

Exhibit: OhioCentric

2-18-2012 thru 3-24-2012

OSU Urban Arts Space

Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus: Home and Country

2-24-2012 thru 2-26-2012

Lincoln Theatre

Central Ohio Home & Garden Show

2-25-2012 thru 3-4-2012

Ohio Expo Center

State of the City

2-29-2012

Ohio Theatre

Arnold Sports Festival

3-1-2012 thru 3-4-2012

Greater Columbus Convention Center, Veterans Memorial, The LC, Nationwide Arena, Arena Grand Movie Theatre, Chiller Ice Rinks and The Ohio State University

OHSAA Wrestling State Championship

3-1-2012 thru 3-3-2012

Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center

2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Weightlifting

3-2-2012 thru 3-4-2012

Greater Columbus Convention Center

Jazz Arts Group: Beyond the Blackberry Patch

3-2-2012 thru 3-3-2012

Lincoln Theatre

Columbus Bicentennial Celebration

3-8-2012

Grandview Heights Public Library

St. Patrick’s Day Celebration

3-10-2012

Throughout Dublin

Columbus International Auto Show

3-15-2012 thru 3-18-2012

Greater Columbus Convention Center

OHSAA Girls Basketball State Championship

3-15-2012 thru 3-17-2012

Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center

NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Second- and Third-Round Games

3-16-2012 thru 3-18-2012

Nationwide Arena

St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Irish Family Reunion

3-17-2012

Veterans Memorial

OHSAA Boys Basketball State Championship

3-22-2012 thru 3-24-2012

Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center

Aladdin Temple Shrine Circus

3-29-2012 thru 4-1-2012

Ohio Expo Center

Columbus Clippers Baseball vs. Louisville Bats

4-5-2012 thru 4-8-2012

Huntington Park

Equine Affaire

4-12-2012 thru 4-15-2012

Ohio Expo Center

BalletMet: DanceTech

4-20-2012 thru 4-28-2012

Capitol Theatre, Riffe Center

Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus: Vox in Full Swing

4-20-2012 thru 4-21-2012

Columbus Performing Arts Center

African American Heritage Festival

4-21-2012 thru 4-28-2012

Throughout The Ohio State University campus

Earth Day 2012: Root Down

4-21-2012

Columbus Commons

Downtown Digital Arts Festival

4-24-2012 thru 4-26-2012

CEWD Building, Columbus State Community College

OhioDance Festival and Conference

4-27-2012 thru 4-29-2012

BalletMet Performance Space

Capital City Half Marathon

5-5-2012

Starts at the Scioto Mile and ends at Columbus Commons

Columbus Bicentennial Pavilion Grand Opening

5-5-2012

Columbus Commons

Ohioana Book Festival: Celebrating Ohio’s Authors

5-12-2012

Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center

20th Komen Columbus Race for the Cure

5-19-2012

Throughout Downtown

25th Anniversary Gala

5-19-2012

The King Arts Complex

Village Valuables

5-19-2012

Throughout German Village

Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus: Illuminati Concert

5-20-2012

St John’s Episcopal Church

Big Ten Baseball Tournament

5-21-2012 thru 5-27-2012

Huntington Park

Asian Festival

5-26-2012 thru 5-27-2012

Franklin Park

The Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance (an Official PGA TOUR event)

5-28-2012 thru 6-3-2012

Muirfield Village Golf Club

Columbus Arts Festival

6-1-2012 thru 6-3-2012

Downtown riverfront

Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Summer Reading Club

6-2-2012 thru 8-4-2012

All branches of Columbus Metropolitan Library

Stop and Smell the Roses

6-9-2012

Park of Roses

Wendy’s International Triathlon and Duathlon

6-10-2012

Alum Creek State Park

Creekside Blues & Jazz Festival

6-15-2012 thru 6-17-2012

Creekside Park & Plaza

Pride Festival

6-15-2012 thru 6-16-2012

Goodale Park

Relay Around Columbus

6-16-2012 thru 6-17-2012

Throughout Columbus

Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus: Cher and Cher Alike

6-22-2012 thru 6-23-2012

Lincoln Theatre

ComFest

6-22-2012 thru 6-24-2012

Goodale Park

Juneteenth Celebration

6-22-2012 thru 6-24-2012

Franklin Park

German Village Haus und Garten Tour

6-24-2012

German Village

2012 High School Juried Exhibition

6-26-2012 thru 7-28-2012

OSU Urban Arts Space

2012 USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships

6-28-2012 thru 7-7-2012

Greater Columbus Convention Center

Red, White & Boom!

7-3-2012

Downtown riverfront

Doo Dah Parade

7-4-2012

Along High Street in the Short North Arts District

Ohio Homecoming

7-5-2012 thru 7-8-2012

Various sites

North Market Food & Ohio Wine Festival

7-13-2012 thru 7-15-2012

North Market

Franklin County Fair

7-14-2012 thru 7-21-2012

Franklin County Fairgrounds

Jazz & Rib Fest

7-20-2012 thru 7-22-2012

Arena District/North Bank Park

Ohio State Fair

7-25-2012 thru 8-5-2012

Ohio Expo Center

Pickerington Violet Festival

7-25-2012 thru 7-28-2012

Victory Park

Dublin Irish Festival

8-3-2012 thru 8-5-2012

Coffman Park

King Lincoln District Heritage Festival

8-3-2012 thru 8-4-2012

Lincoln Theatre

Pelotonia

8-10-2012 thru 8-12-2012

Throughout Columbus

10TV Health & Fitness Expo

8-11-2012 thru 8-12-2012

Greater Columbus Convention Center

Festival Latino

8-11-2012 thru 8-12-2012

Genoa Park

Taste of the Future

8-21-2012

Columbus State Community College Downtown Campus

Greek Festival

8-31-2012 thru 9-2-2012

Greek Orthodox Cathedral

Ohio State University Football vs. Miami (Ohio)

9-1-2012

Ohio Stadium

Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival

9-3-2012

Northam Park

Exhibit: The Columbus Fashion Story

9-5-2012 thru 12-8-2012

Gladys Keller Snowden Galleries

Best of Fall Home Show

9-7-2012 thru 9-9-2012

Ohio Expo Center

Columbus GospelFest

9-8-2012

Genoa Park, Along Washington Blvd.

Clintonville Tour of Homes

9-9-2012

Throughout Old Beechwold

The Pointless Pursuit: A Quirky, Action Packed Urban Adventure!

9-9-2012

Throughout Columbus

Country Living Fair

9-14-2012 thru 9-16-2012

Ohio History Center/Ohio Village

Short North Tour of Homes & Gardens

9-15-2012 thru 9-16-2012

Short North Arts District

Columbus Food & Wine Affair Grand Tasting

9-21-2012

Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

I.D.E.A

9-28-2012 thru 10-8-2012

Held at various sites around Columbus

U-NITE

9-28-2012

Along the downtown riverfront

Via Columbus

9-28-2012 thru 9-30-2012

Along the downtown riverfront

All American Quarter Horse Congress

10-5-2012 thru 10-28-2012

Ohio Expo Center

Columbus Italian Festival

10-5-2012 thru 10-7-2012

Italian Village

Experience Columbus Days

10-5-2012 thru 10-8-2012

Throughout Central Ohio

Ohio State University Football Homecoming Game vs. Nebraska

10-6-2012

Ohio Stadium

Evolution Theatre Bicentennial Playwrights Festival

10-8-2012 thru 10-14-2012

Columbus Performing Arts Center – Van Fleet Theatre

Ohio State University Football vs. Purdue

10-20-2012

Ohio Stadium

Columbus Marathon

10-21-2012

Starts and ends in downtown Columbus and travels through 26 miles of Columbus, including Bexley, German Village, Upper Arlington, Grandview and Victorian Village

Exhibit: Elijah Pierce

11-2-2012 thru 2-17-2013

Columbus Museum of Art

57th Columbus International Festival

11-3-2012 thru 11-4-2012

Veterans Memorial

Dine Originals Week

11-12-2012 thru 11-18-2012

Dine Originals restaurants around Columbus

Ohio Statehouse Holiday Festival and Open House

11-28-2012

Ohio Statehouse

Winterfair

11-30-2012 thru 12-2-2012

Ohio Expo Center

Short North Holiday Hop

12-1-2012

Short North Arts District

First Night Columbus

12-31-2012

Throughout Downtown

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Calling all songbirds! Looking for a way to exercise your “creative muscle?”

200Columbus, the organization leading the efforts for a citywide celebration of Columbus’ 200^th birthday, is currently seeking entries from musicians of all ages, genres and skill level, who can capture the spirit of Columbus in a song. Celebrate Columbus in Song will accept online submissions until January 31, 2012.

To be considered, songs must be original, use Columbus as an inspiration, and be family friendly (for complete details and rules visit www.200columbus.com/song). After all songs are submitted, the entries will be pared down to the top 30-40 contenders. Then, you play another part – in voting! Starting on February 14, 2012, visit the same website and vote for your favorite songs. The ten songs with the highest votes will be included on the 200Columbus CD, which will be available late spring.

Here’s the best part: Each band/composer with a song selected for the CD will receive $500 and the opportunity to professionally record at the WCBE-FM or Jazz Academy studios. Selected winners will also have performance opportunities at several Columbus events and festivals during 200Columbus as well.

What better way to become even more engaged with our community and inspire others?

Need more information or ready to submit? Visit www.200columbus.com/song.

For those of us who are less musically inclined but would still like to engage in the celebration of Columbus’ birthday creatively, 200Columbus has us covered.

Another fabulous creative event occurring in Columbus is Columbus Public Art 2012. Beginning in January 2012, temporary public art pieces will be displayed in public spaces in a 360-acre area of downtown surrounding the statehouse and along the riverfront. Look for the pieces in public plazas, building sides, streets and alleys and elsewhere.

200Columbus hopes to inspire dialogue about the past, present and future of Columbus by highlighting the physical and philosophical measurement of time. Projects include traditional works, such as murals and sculptures, as well as unconventional pieces, such as interventions, sounds works and site-specific performances. Downtown Columbus will be transformed into an open-air gallery where innovative art will commemorate our city’s history and encourage viewers to see the city and their place within it in a whole new light.

Here’s a sneak peak at some of the projects that will appear throughout the city:

• Beginning at 12:01am January 1, 2012 an original composition will be created and played each month at Trinity Episcopal Church throughout the year.

• 24 plein-air paintings on buildings downtown depicting Columbus throughout the seasons.

• A work on the Scioto River in conjunction with the International EcoSummit.

• Teen and elder programming that will offer opportunities for direct engagement with the arts that will be offered in partnership with Transit Arts.

• A light installation in time with human breath on the east side of Center of Science and Industry (COSI) to correspond with the city’s birthday in February 2012.

The Columbus Public Art 2012 initiative is a unique partnership between educational and cultural institutions, the City of Columbus, and businesses dedicated to the vibrant cultural and commercial heart of Columbus. The project will involve local, national and international artists in a project that will engage the community, promote tourism and economic development, and help the arts to become integral to downtown. 200Columbus believes that the project will underscore Columbus’ reputation of being a smart and open city both nationally and internationally, so be sure to enjoy the creative works that we’ll have access to throughout the year.

Need more information? http://200columbus.com/initiatives/arts-and-culture/columbus-public-art-2012/ has you covered.

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