The Last Address Tribute Walk is an annual event that honors artists who lived with HIV and/or were lost to AIDS-related complications. The walk took place on June 3rd, after Ira Sachs’ nine-minute film Last Address (2010) was screened at the IFC Center at 3:00 p.m. that day. After emotional comments by the filmmaker, the audience, led by Alex Fialho of the arts organization Visual AIDS, walked to six West Village addresses where artists who contributed enormously to the West Village culture last resided.
If you missed this event, there is no need to wait until the 6th Annual Last Address Tribute Walk next June. You can complete the same walk, albeit without the touching, revealing, and sometimes raucous comments of those who were close to the artists. You can also see the film, which runs through October 22nd, at the Museum of the City of New York within the AIDS at Home exhibit.
Here’s the route: Ron Vawter and Cookie Mueller (285 Bleecker Street), Charles Ludlum (55 Morton Street), Hibiscus (622 Greenwich Street), Marsha P. Johnson (Christopher Street Pier), and Barton Lidice Benes (55 Bethune Street at Westbeth Artists Housing).
More information on these remarkable artists and the 5th Annual Last Address Tribute Walk can be found at visualaids.org/events/detail/5th-annual-last-address-tribute-walk.
–Leslie Adatto
