Muralist Selected for Nation’s First Permanent Installation Honoring HIV Long-Term Survivors

A project honoring the strength and resilience of HIV Long-Term Survivors (HLTS) has selected San Francisco Artist David Faulk to paint a two-story mural in the new Openhouse Community Center under construction at 75 Laguna Street. The tribute steering committee selected Mr. Faulk, a long-term survivor of HIV, from a field of 24 artists who submitted applications for the commission.

Mr. Faulk, a painter, costumer and performance artist, and his long-time partner and collaborator, Michael Johnstone, are the subjects of a 2019 documentary “Verasphere, A Love Story in Costume,” about their art, love and survival. HIV-positive and healthy, the couple created Mrs. Vera, a “drag tornado” costumed and portrayed by Faulk and photographed by Johnstone. The couple created Mrs. Vera and her bold new world in the uncertain days of the AIDS crisis, and last year mounted a retrospective of paintings, photography and costumes, “Verasphere: 25 Years of Love, Art and Joy,” at the Harvey Milk Photo Center Gallery in San Francisco.