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AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT THE NAMES PROJECT

Honoring those who have died of AIDS, the Memorial Quilt is a gigantic work of folk art containing thousands of cloth panels, each measuring 3' x 6' and each dedicated to the memory of a life (or lives) ended prematurely by AIDS. Creating a panel gives the deceased person's survivors a positive way to handle grief. The Quilt was begun by The Names Project (founded in San Francisco in 1987 by Cleve Jones), which collects the panels, assembles them, stores them, and arranges their display. The Quilt has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and a documentary film about it, Common Threads, Stories from the Quilt, won an Academy Award in 1990.

The Names Project has displayed parts of the Quilt around the world to educate the public on the enormous impact of the AIDS epidemic. Viewing these mementos of lives cut short humanizes the tragedy of AIDS in a deeply moving way. Elizabeth Taylor (see card 104) has said, "The Quilt is a masterpiece created out of love. It is a rare and intense experience of what it means to be human." The Quilt contains panels in memory of such famous people as Rock Hudson (see card 24), Liberace (see card 29), and Roy Cohn (see card 10) as well as thousands of ordinary citizens of all ages and races. When first displayed in 1987, the Quilt contained fewer than 2,000 panels; when shown in Washington in 1992, it

had grown to 26,000 panels, which represented only about 13% of AIDS deaths in the U.S. and only 2% worldwide. To add a panel to the AIDS Memorial Quilt, contact The Names Project, 2362 Market Street, San Francisco, California 94114, phone: (415) 863-5511. Next Card 107: BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS

AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT