Paula Toynton has worked in and with AIDS Service organizations for over 30 years. She is recognized for developing effective community-based public health programs and education initiatives that inspire people to move from understanding to action. Currently, she consults with organizations addressing health disparities. She studied art at the California College of Arts and holds a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Rutgers University. Click here to view the full web gallery on the Visual AIDS website.

As an artist, I have experienced the creative alchemy of art to express what only the heart and soul knows. As someone who has worked in the field of community-based HIV and AIDS services, I have also witnessed the alchemy of HIV to change hearts and souls.

A melancholic portrait of a blue-toned woman with long purple hair draped in a yellow shawl.Courtesy of Visual AIDS/Miss Kitty, (title unknown), n/d, color pencil and mixed media

Living San Francisco during the 1980’s, I saw how an emerging HIV epidemic changed what it meant to be gay. During the 1990s and 2000s in New Jersey and in the South, I saw HIV unveil the truth about race and health disparities. I saw how HIV could be and was a catastrophic experience, both personally and across communities. But I have also seen transformational alchemy. I have seen how HIV redefines love and grace, awakens purpose and courage, and forges communities where they had not existed before.

A dear friend and colleague of mine, Deloris Dockrey, lived openly with HIV. She was a servant leader, an advocate, an agent of change. In her poem, “Courage with Grace!”, she captures her experience of the transformational power of HIV.