McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
AIDS Collection
Collection
3,7 cm of textual records. – 7 posters.
John A. Schweitzer is known as a Canadian artist and art collector, as well as an early leader in AIDS activism, holding the first AIDS benefit auction in Canada, Art against AIDS, in 1986. In 1990 he chaired An AIDS Benefit for Actors in Montréal and in 1994 he founded The John A. Schweitzer Foundation, a private trust in support of visual artists with AIDS. He often spoke out on the subject in interviews, at conferences, and in other public forums. Additionally, he collaborated with and exhibited works by Robert Mapplethorpe, a well-known contemporary visual artist who suffered from the disease.
The fonds was founded through donations by Mr. John A. Schweitzer and others to the Osler Library in June 2010.
The fonds includes a collection of AIDS activism materials, with an emphasis on its manifestation in Canada's visual art world, through the collections of Mr. John A. Schweitzer and others. Several of the documents have been signed by either John A. Schweitzer or Robert Mapplethorpe. The materials in the collection include posters, press releases, conference programs, exhibition catalogues, exhibition invitations, exhibition ephemera, programs, brochures, tear-sheets, auction catalogues, and reviews.
The documents are in English and French.
Items can be requested for consultation online via the Library Catalogue or by email at osler.library@mcgill.ca. Advance notice is recommended.