LAIR Galleries Features Stained Glass Paintings by Paul Edmonds

The 2024 Lakehead Arts Integrated Research (LAIR) resident artist is Paul Edmonds. His painted stained glass series is featured on the LAIR website. Paul is a self-taught artist who started painting in the 1980s, as a means to convey hope, resiliency, and beauty in the face of adversity.

Paul is known worldwide as the “City of Hope Patient”. He is one of five people who have been cured of HIV. Of this very rare group, Paul is the eldest and had HIV the longest. Through a life-saving stem cell transplant of a rare genetic mutation that makes the body resistant to HIV, Paul is now cured and he no longer takes HIV medication.

Paul serves on the Community Advisory Board for RID-HIV, one of 10 Martin Delaney Collaboratories funded by the National Institutes of Health. He also works tirelessly, speaking at events and raising awareness of HIV cure research. He believes that art has the power to inspire, heal, and bring people together.

While stem cell transplantation is not an accessible cure, the five cured patients have provided scientists with an increased understanding of the virus. The World Health Organization reports that in 2022, 39 million people were living with HIV and 630,000 people died of HIV-related illnesses. WHO contends that “HIV continues to be a major global public health issue”. Through collaborative scientific research and community engagement efforts, HIV research awareness is growing. See related HIV arts integrated efforts in the LAIR Gallery.

The LAIR Galleries regularly feature juried artworks and artists, promoting the power of the arts in research and education. 

Pictured is Stained Glass No. 6, Paul Edmonds, 2023