MCHD to observe World AIDS Day

November 28, 2022

MCHD to observe World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day is observed December 1 each year. The day is an opportunity worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show support for people living with HIV, and commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day, newly recognized in 1988, was the first-ever global health day.

To help mark the occasion, the Mobile County Health Department is sponsoring a special experience December 1 at its Keeler Memorial Building (251 North Bayou Street in Mobile). ART Beat, a Therapeutic Art Experience will be hosted in the lobby and courtyard from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Tyrome “Ty” Tover, a peer counselor with MCHD and a contemporary expressionist painter, said local artists will have the opportunity to showcase their work during the gallery event. Photos of this event will be featured on social media.

Tover, a recent World Health Organization 2022 art exhibition winner, uses colorful paintings which pay homage to his life experiences and his emotions. His distinctive personal style and use of color permeates throughout his works. Most of his works display his fondness for use of acrylic paints over black canvas.

Tover has led a very interesting life saturated in the arts. Tover left Mobile early on in his life to seek culture in other communities. He spent more than a decade in Los Angeles where he served on numerous artistic boards, including the Disney Anaheim Museum.

His artwork has been shown in local exhibitions, including the most recent gallery open now (November and December 2022) by the Mobile Arts Council titled “I am Light.”  Tover’s work is currently featured on the Mobile Arts Council’s Virtual Art Gallery at https://mobilearts.org/october-exhibitions-l-a-stevens-wgas-2/

The World AIDS Day 2022 theme is “Putting Ourselves to the Test: Achieving Equity to End HIV.”  The focus of the World AIDS Day is to speak out against HIV stigma and urging a more aggressive response to help end the HIV epidemic. World AIDS Day is intended to create global cooperation to end the imbalances and injustices that hinder HIV testing, prevention, and access to care.