Since the last World AIDS DAY, we've entered the Third Millenium and are on the brink of the third decade of the AIDS epidemic. The irony is that it's clearer than ever that there are numerous AIDS epidemics, not just one. For many people with HIV/AIDS in the developed world, the situation has improved. But not so for the burgeoning populations with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, India, China, and the former Soviet Union. The time-honored axiom that every community has its own AIDS epidemic remains entirely apt. Activism is far from Artery's first exploration of activist AIDS-arts, but it is the first to explore the subject in a more general way: How do people become activists? How do politics and pleasure dovetail? How can AIDS issues be more broadly conceived? How can young people be "educated" in activism? To answer these questions we offer Michael Bronski's interviews with artists and movement- or organization leaders on the origins of their activism, Jeff Weinstein's ode to political engagement, Don Shewey's interview with Eric Rofes, and David Román's look at college students studying AIDS-literature. Speaking of college students, Artery is also delighted to host the beta version of an interactive AIDS-Arts timeline designed for us by Professor Anthony Karrer's multimedia class at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Feedback invited. In addition to these Centerpieces, Our Symposium participants ponder the question: "Who Cares? AIDS, Activism, and the Arts." (Each of them will also featured on a panel on the same subject on December 4, see below.) Don't think for a moment we've given up our devotion to the arts per se. We're thrilled to be hosting the premiere publications of two Sarah Schulman works--the full-length play, "The Child," and the essay, "Through the Looking Glass," which will be published in print in February, 2001 as part of the University of Wisconsin Press anthology, "Loss Within Loss." Another Centerpieces feature is Jim Hubbard's essay and program notes from the exhibition "Fever in the Archive: AIDS Activist Videotapes from the Royal S. Marks Collection," which opens at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York on December 1. Both this exhibition and anthology--and Artery itself--are initiatives of The Estate Project for Artists With AIDS. For nearly a decade, The Estate Project, through its herculean efforts, has preserved the legacy of visual artists, filmmakers, activist videomakers, and dancers. We at Artery are here to help interpret this material--and foment a little discussion while we're at it. On December 4, Artery presents "Who Cares? AIDS, Activism, and the Arts" sponsored by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics of the New School University , at 66 West 12th Street, Room 510, at 8 pm. Another panel, In conjunction with the "Fever in the Archive" exhibition and co-sponsored by the Center for Sexuality and Gender at New York University, will be held in Room 300 of NYU's main building, at 100 Washington Square East, at 7 p.m. (See the International Events Calendar for more details). Finally, as should be evident, each issue of Artery involves an enormous amount of work. In addition to the writer-contributors, I want to thank Robbie Conal, Robert Giard and Dona Ann McAdams for lending their work to illustrate several centerpieces, designer/webmistress Deborah Chow for her extraordinary diligence and savvy design, and Yelena Gluzman for her steadfast editorial assistance. Please subscribe. And let us know what think by responding to the Talking Back bulletin boards. The next Artery will be devoted to AIDS-literature. In solidarity, Robert Atkins Robert Atkins, Artery's producer and editor, is an art historian and writer who has been an innovator in the areas of both digital culture and AIDS activism. Currently, Atkins is a fellow at Carnegie-Mellon's Studio for Creative Inquiry and art editor of the Media Channel. In 1995, he created TalkBack! A Forum for Critical Inquiry, the first American online journal about online art, and from 1996-98, was editor-in-chief of the Arts, Technology, Entertainment Network. Atkins has written widely about AIDS and in 1990 co-curated, "From Media to Metaphor: Art About AIDS," the first travelling museum exhibition surveying art about AIDS. He was also one of the four founders of Visual AIDS, the New York-based organization responsible for the annual Day Without Art, the Red Ribbon Project, and many other educational activities. Also read past Message From the Editors: In Memoriam In Motion December '99 Artery Credits Design: Deborah Chow   Back End Programming: Luna Imaging   Research/Editorial Assistance: Yelena Gluzman   Animations: Creative Time (Carol Stakenas)   Circulation & Blood Screen Image: Lisa Hecht, REPOhistory    Funders: The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Art: "I Want to Grow Old" tattoo: Steed Taylor (In Memoriam issue); Robbie Conal, Robert Giard and Dona Ann McAdams (Activism issue); portraits of Robert Atkins by Ann Meredith and Warren Neidich For problems or questions about the site, please email the webmistress.