AIDS Memorial Quilt 35th Anniversary: San Francisco to Host Largest Display in a Decade

The National AIDS Memorial will mark the 35^th anniversary of the AIDS Memorial Quilt with an historic outdoor display in Golden Gate Park that will feature nearly 3,000 hand-stitched panels of the Quilt.

The free public event will take place on June 11 & 12 from 10 am – 5 pm each day in Robin Williams Meadow and in the National AIDS Memorial Grove. Expected to draw thousands of people, the display will be the largest display of the Quilt in over a decade and the largest-ever in San Francisco history.

 

“This year’s historic community display will be a beautiful celebration of life and a recognition of the power of the Quilt today as a teaching tool for health and social justice,” said National AIDS Memorial CEO John Cunningham. “The Quilt is an important reminder that the HIV/AIDS crisis is still not over and there is much work to be done, particularly in communities of color, where HIV is on the rise in many parts of the country.” 

 

The two-day 35^th Anniversary event, presented by Gilead Sciences, will feature 350 12’x12’ blocks of the Quilt laid out on the ground, each consisting of eight 3’x 6’ individually sewn panels that honor and remember the names and stories of loved ones lost to AIDS.  Visitors will be able to walk through the display to experience each panel, remember the names, and see first-hand the stories sewn into each of them.  Featured Quilt blocks will include many of the original panels made during the darkest days of the pandemic and panels made in recent years, a solemn reminder that the AIDS crisis is still not over.

 

“The Quilt remains an important symbol of hope, activism and remembrance that reaches millions of people each year, opening hearts and minds,” said Alex Kalomparis, Senior Vice President, Gilead Sciences, a long-time partner of the Quilt and its programs. The company provided a $2.4 million grant to the National AIDS Memorial in 2019 to relocate the Quilt from Atlanta back to San Francisco. “Through community displays such as this, the Quilt is connecting the story of HIV/AIDS to the issues faced by many people today, touching their lives in a very personal, compelling way.”

 

An opening ceremony and traditional Quilt unfolding will start at 9:30 am on the 11^th, followed by the continuous reading of names of lives lost to AIDS aloud by volunteers, dignitaries, and the public on both days.  There will be panel-making workshops, community information booths, stories behind the Quilt, displays of memorabilia, and the ability for the public to share their personal Quilt stories. Volunteer opportunities and community/corporate partnerships are available.  The public is also invited to bring new panels that can be displayed in a special area to become part of the Quilt.   

 

More than 100 new panels will be seen for the first time at the San Francisco display.  Many of them were made through the Memorial’s Call My Name panel-making program, which helps raise greater awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS in communities of color, particularly in the South, where HIV rates are on the rise today. Panel-making workshops are organized around the country, working with church groups, quilting guilds and AIDS service organizations to continue the Quilt’s 35-year legacy of bringing people together and to serve as a catalyst for education and action by pulling the thread from then to now for justice. 

 

“The AIDS Quilt has always been an important part of Glide Memorial Church and many Black churches around the country. Throughout the years, we have made panels and displayed them from the pulpit as a backdrop to worship, with parishioners calling, singing, and preaching their names,” said Marvin White, Minister of Celebration at Glide. “We are honored to be a community partner of this historic display, to celebrate their lives and to share their stories so future generations always remember.” 

 

According to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, while new HIV infections in the U.S. fell about 8% from 2015 to 2019, Black and Latino communities — particularly gay and bisexual men within those groups — continue to be disproportionately affected. In 2019, 26% of new HIV infections were among Black gay and bisexual men, 23% among Latino gay and bisexual men, and 45% among gay and bisexual men under the age of 35. African American and Hispanics/Latinos account for the largest increases in new HIV diagnoses, 42% and 27% respectively.  Disparities also persist among women. Black women’s HIV infection rate is 11 times that of white women and four times that of Latina women.  Racism, HIV stigma, homophobia, poverty, and barriers to health care continue to drive these disparities.

 

The first panels of the Quilt were created in June of 1987 when a group of strangers, led by gay rights activist Cleve Jones, gathered in a San Francisco storefront to document the lives they feared history would forget. This meeting of devoted friends, lovers and activists would serve as the foundation for The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.  Each panel made was the size of a human grave and they saw the Quilt as an activist tool to push the government into taking action to end the epidemic.

 

“What started as a protest to demand action turned into a national movement that served as a wake-up call to the nation that thousands upon thousands of people were dying,” said Jones.  “Today, the Quilt is just as relevant and even more important, particularly in the wake of Covid-19, and the fact that the struggles we face today that result from health and social inequities are the issues we will face again in the future if we don’t learn from the lessons of the past.”

 

That year, the nearly 2,000 panels of the Quilt traveled to Washington, D.C. for its first display on the National Mall.  It then traveled to several cities, including a large display at the Moscone Center in San Francisco to raise funds for AIDS service organizations.

 

Today, the Quilt, considered the largest community arts project in the world, is under the stewardship of the National AIDS Memorial and has surpassed 50,000 individually sewn panels with more than 110,000 names stitched into its 54 tons of fabric. The Quilt continues to connect the history of the AIDS pandemic to the ongoing fight against stigma and prejudice through hundreds of community displays around the country and educational programs that reach millions of people each year.  In 2021, an outdoor Quilt display system was constructed in the National AIDS Memorial Grove, located in Golden Gate Park, which allows for regular outdoor displays.

 

“Golden Gate Park has long been a place where history is made and where people come together for change, to heal and express themselves,” said Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department. “The National AIDS Memorial is an important part of that history, and we are honored to be part of this event that will bring thousands of people to our beloved park to honor a national treasure.”

National AIDS Memorial Announces Second Recipient of the Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award

The National AIDS Memorial announced today that Sarah Frank, a freshman at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island is the second recipient of the Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award.  The Award honors the life of Mary Bowman, the young poet, advocate, author, and singer living with AIDS, who passed away in early 2019 at the age of 30. 

 

Funded through a multi-year grant from ViiV Healthcare, the Award offers support to artist-activists who are working and committed to making a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS and advancing social justice.

“We are pleased to honor novelist, poet and performer Sarah Frank with this year’s Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award,” said John Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer of the National AIDS Memorial. “Sarah’s poetry reflects on her personal experiences that raise awareness and inspire action.”

Sarah, a freshman at Brown University studying writing and psychology, is a novelist, poet, and performer. In addition, she is the founder of Studyist, a nonprofit that combats education inequity. An author of four published books, Sarah performs in poetry readings, has spoken to over 5,000 students at elementary/middle schools, and has competed in numerous poetry competitions. Sara writes about everything from her own life to the lives of those around her, from history to the current state of the world.  She writes and performs her poems as a catalyst for change, with particular focus on anti-semitism, feminism and climate change.

“Sarah believes that her poetry can do two major things for social advocacy – bring awareness and trigger action. Like Mary Bowman, Sarah is not afraid to speak up. Mary Bowman took what she had gone through and what she noticed about the world and used it as fuel for her fire. And while for different causes, Sarah does the same thing. As Mary said, poetry is universal. Poetry can be written in one language but understood by them all,” continued Cunningham.

“As a Jewish person, I have experienced antisemitism firsthand,” said Sarah Frank. “I performed one of my pieces about the Holocaust at a poetry reading. Afterwards, I was approached by someone who told me my piece reminded them that there is still much work to do to combat antisemitism. I plan to use this scholarship to continue lending my voice and my poetry to raise greater awareness around stigma, bigotry, health and social justice.”

ViiV Healthcare has supported the multi-year program with more than $100,000 in funding to the National AIDS Memorial.  In 2022, two $5,000 awards will be granted to eligible artist-activists and a fellowship program will also be established.  

“This award supports young artists and activists like Sarah who use their creative talents and share their message of change through the arts,” said Marc Meachem, Head, U.S. External Affairs, ViiV Healthcare. “Like Mary Bowman’s, Sarah’s work shows how culture can change stigma and deepen connections with people to breakthrough prejudices and activate action.”

ViiV Healthcare recognizes the power of culture to break down HIV/AIDS stigma and isolation, and the company proudly supports arts and culture programs that engage and inspire individuals and communities in the fight to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  A beautifully-produced video tribute to Bowman, created by the National AIDS Memorial through the support of ViiV Healthcare, captures that spirit and Bowman’s life and work. 

 

Born with HIV, Bowman lived out her experiences of growing up and living with HIV (and losing a mother to AIDS) through her art. As a young, out, woman of color, she was a dynamic, vital voice for the next generation of individuals living with HIV -- proud, willing to speak of her own challenges beyond HIV -- and also a fierce advocate for other young people with HIV for whom a voice was lacking. For Bowman, the arts gave her the platform and voice to channel her creative energy, her passion, her truth.

Details about the application process and requirements for the award can be found at  www.aidsmemorial.org/marybowman.  Applications are now being accepted for the next Awards.

National AIDS Memorial Honors the Legacy of Pedro Zamora on his 50th Birthday by Announcing Eleven Scholars who are Carrying his Torch Forward

The National AIDS Memorial is honoring the legacy of AIDS educator and activist Pedro Zamora on what would have been his 50^th birthday by formally announcing the latest recipients of the Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship.  Eleven scholars have been selected from ten universities and academic institutions across the country, each receiving $5,000 in financial support for their academic studies.

 

“Much like Pedro himself, this scholarship supports young students who embody their work within the community and activism in ways inspired by their own passions, insights, originality, and conviction,” said National AIDS Memorial CEO John Cunningham. “These students shine an important light on the issues and struggles in their own communities, bringing a sense of optimism, hope and action to make a difference.”

 

Dedicated to continuing the legacy of Zamora, the Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship supports the academic efforts of young activists working in their communities today. Using the HIV/AIDS activism movement as an example, the scholarship supports those taking up social justice work in its many forms and working at the intersection of these movements with their communities to drive progress.

 

The 2021/2022 scholars include: Liggera Edmonds-Allen, Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania; Olivia Freidenreich, University of California, Berkeley; Evan Gates, Miami University, Ohio; Treasure Joiner, Tulane University, Louisiana; Espoir Ledieu, W.P Carey School of Business at Arizona State University; Craig McFarland, Harvard College, Massachusetts; Leo Parrott, University of San Francisco, California; Peter Pham, University of California Berkeley; Aisha Tipnis; Brown University, Rhode Island; Andrea Volcan, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; and, Jashui Zarate Torres, Dominican University, Illinois.

 

As part of the application process, candidates must demonstrate how they are providing service and/or leadership in efforts to end HIV (or help those living with it), and/or the fight against stigma, denial, and hate, and how their studies, career plans, or public service will contribute to those efforts.  This year’s recipients are making a difference as young leaders working on issues ranging from HIV/AIDS, transgender activism, and community reinvestment, to marginalization, health access, immigrant rights, and environmental justice.  A summary of their biographies can be viewed here.

 

“This class of scholars is so impressive, all of whom are making a tremendous impact and helping carry Pedro’s torch forward for a better future,” said Gilead Sciences Senior Vice President, Alex Kalomparis. “We are proud to support this important program that is inspiring the next generation of leaders to continue the fight for health and social justice and end HIV/AIDS.”

 

Gilead Sciences is a major funder of the scholarship program, which has provided $410,000 in financial support to 112 young leaders since its inception in 2009.  The National AIDS Memorial was able to expand the program in 2021 to include its largest group of recipients ever and will be creating a fellowship program in 2022 through a grant provided by Gilead.

 

Interested students can learn more and apply online by visiting www.aidsmemorial.org/scholarships.