After beginning the heads-down trudge to morning classes on December 2, 2004, Davidson College students peered beneath stubborn eyelids to discover something out of the ordinary on their campus: sculptures and portraits in courtyards and hallways covered by white bed sheets.

Then they saw the banner on top of Chambers, the main academic building at the heart of campus. Draped between the two 20-foot "Chamber Maids" statues shrouded in black tarps, the banner read: "A Day Without Art."

Unnoticed by most, the day before had been World AIDS Day. Probably further neglected were the approximately 8,000 humans that perished that day (3 million died in 2003ⁱ), and continue to perish each day, because of HIV/ AIDS.

The Day With(out) Art project was a first attempt by the Ars Longa visual arts club of Davidson College to shed light on the vital presence of art in daily life and to draw attention to the devastation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic that takes another creative life every moment.

"People don't usually pay much attention to their surroundings because they are routine and it is only the unexpected within the landscape, that one variation within the mundane rhythm that catches our eyes," explains Ars Longa founder Jessica Cooley. "A Day Without Art was that one variation in the landscape on December 2 and it successfully got everyone's attention."

Day Without Art is a national day of action that began in 1989 to honor members of the art community that had died from AIDS. Later on parentheses were added to the project's title to emphasize the proactive nature of creating art to commemorate the struggle against the disease. Since that first day, an estimated 8,000 museums, galleries, AIDS organizations, libraries, colleges and high schools have participated globally in the Day With(out) Art.

"Activism wasn't a primary goal of Ars Longa, but art's inherent ability to spread awareness made this activism piece a logical step in creating the club," said Park McArthur, a junior at Davidson and one of the project's directors.

Approximately 10 members of Ars Longa and the club's faculty advisor carried out the project under the cover of darkness with assistance from the campus facilities crew that provided late-night access to buildings and did some of the more treacherous tasks, like the shrouding of the "Chamber Maids."

The effect of the project on the student body was one first of confusion, then curiosity, then understanding. "Certainly it was unlike the typical wearing of colored ribbons on one's lapel, buttons on canvas backpacks, or fading bumper stickers on black Jetta windshields," said Cooley.

"This is Ars Longa's first social awareness event, which hopefully will be an annual thing and will continue to grow in scale, participation, and understanding," McArthur elaborated. "Students will anticipate and be able to understand the significance of World AIDS Day and the art community's response to the effects of the HIV/AIDS virus."

Perhaps this creative action by a few diligent, compassionate individuals resonated with fellow students and inspired them to contemplate the impact of their own lives. Art has influence. How can your creativity speak out?

ⁱAIDS death toll statistics from the UNAIDS 2004 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic