“It’s important to me [to start here] because that’s where I work – I’m an alumnus,” Ashley Grosso, AIDS Museum Executive Director, explained at the opening.

A Seton Hall graduate (with a major in diplomacy and international relations), Grosso is also a founding member of the Red Cross Club at the campus through which she became interested in HIV/AIDS. When members of the club brought to school a panel of the AIDS memorial quilt, she became interested in using artwork as a tool to raise AIDS awareness and educate people about the pandemic – hence the idea of a National AIDS Museum.

Eyes of Mercy showcases AIDS-inspired works of artists from across the country: Watercolor artist Bob Armstrong of New Jersey was present at the opening. He talked about AIDS prevention and shared his own survival stories.

Photographer Kurt Weston of California has lost most of his sight to CMV retinitis. His displayed artwork deals with the physical and emotional impact that visual loss can have on an individual. His Journey Through the Darkness is the exhibit’s feature photograph.

The National AIDS Museum will find a permanent home in Newark. But for now the exhibit will travel across the country. Next stop – the New School, New York City.