Donahue, Keith Andrew
NAME: Keith Andrew Donahue
Biography:
Keith Andrew Donahue, 35, died of AIDS-related neurologic complications on December 28, 1988.
Mr. Donahue succumbed peacefully at his Provincetown home. Caring for him with love were John Perry Ryan, his lover and life partner; family, friends, and supporters; the Provincetown Positive/PWA Coalition; the Universalist Meeting House; the Personal Care Support Project for PWAs of Hyannis Hospital; and the Hospice of Cape Cod. Private graveside services solemnized his burial in Provincetown Cemetery on December 29, 1988.
M. Donahue was a co-founder, charter member, and the first president of the Provincetown Positive/PWA Coalition. In August 1988, he was the focal point of a coalition "die in" demonstration at Outer Cape Health Services in Provincetown.
Subsequently, he was the first PWA to receive aerosolized pentamidine (AP). Currently, there are at least twenty person receiving AP at Outer Cape Health Services.
Mr. Donahue was a gay rights activist, too. In 1987, he served on both the Philadelphia and Provincetown Work Groups to plan the historic March on Washington. In October 1987, he marched for lesbian and gay rights in the nation's capital.
The overriding concern of his work expresses the inextricable relationship between spirituality and sexuality in the gay life experience. Art critics characterize his compositions as "uncontrived accounts of his experiences and expression of his innate ability to bring bold, new order to the discordant world he has chose for himself."
His work is often controversial when the gay spiritual concerns interface with sexuality. His works have been shown in Springfield, MA, Hartford, New York City, Provincetown and Philadelphia.
Recently, Mr. Donahue's AIDS painting, "Sincerely Yours, Ceasare Rippa," was selected for inclusion in "100 Legends." The project was sponsored by the PWA Coalition of New York City.
In the autumn of 1987, the Provincetown Arts Lottery Council awarded Mr. Donahue a grant to fund a retrospective of the late Provincetown hat maker and artist, H. Kenneth Hersh, also known as Mr. Kenneth. The show opened Memorial Day Weekend, 1988, at the Universalist Meeting House.
Death cut short Mr. Donahue's plans to curated the work of other PWAs who have recently died. His abiding concern was that his artwork not be lost to the world.
Donations in Mr. Donahue's memory to continue his work to provide information or the latest AIDS treatment strategies may be made to the Provincetown Positive/PWA Coalition.
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