Visual AIDS was founded in 1988 by art critic and writer Robert Atkins, curators Gary Garrels,Thomas Sokolowski and William Olander (1951-1989). Visual AIDS was one of the first national initiatives to record the impact of the AIDS pandemic on the artistic community. It brought together the arts and AIDS communities through its renowned national projects Day Without Art, Night Without Light and The Ribbon Project. Day Without Art launched on December 1, 1989 as "a day of action and mourning" in which thousands of arts institutions and organizations around the world unify together to demonstrate the power of art to raise awareness of the ongoing AIDS pandemic. On December 1, 1990, Visual AIDS presented the first Night Without Light, cities nationwide turn off their architectural lights as visual reminder of the impact of AIDS. The (Red) Ribbon Project was created in 1991 by the Visual AIDS Artists Caucus, a group of artists who wished to create a visual symbol to demonstrate compassion for people living with AIDS and their caregivers. The Archive Project was co-founded by David Hirsh and Frank Moore in 1994 in response to a growing concern about the loss and destruction of the work by artists who died of AIDS related causes. The goal of the Archive Project was to document the work of artists with HIV to ensure a cultural legacy. The Archive Project was launched online as the Artist+ Registry in 2012. Visual AIDS begins producing art exhibitions in 1995, through collaborations with other non-profit art institutions to feature work by artists living with HIV and to present exhibitions about HIV/AIDS. Visual AIDS has published exhibition catalogs for many of it's show; and has also independently published artist books and monographs. Through the years, Visual AIDS has collaborated with hundreds of artists to create Posters, Broadsides and AIDS Awareness Projects, including Barbara Kruger, Glenn Ligon, John Giorno, Group Material, fierce pussy, Nayland Blake, Frank Moore, Kay Rosen, Chloe Dzubilo & T. De Long, Carrie Moyer, J. Morrison, Shan Kelley, Wu Ingrid Tsang, Brian Kenny, Hunter Reynolds, Kate Huh, Chris Johnson, Deborah Grant, Neil Farber, William Powhida, Ginger Brooks Takahashi, LJ Roberts, Jayson Keeling, Carmine Santaniello, Benjamin Fredrickson, Silvia Prada, Aaron Cobbett, Amos Mac, Slava Mogutin and many others.