AIDS Memorial Quilt to Be Displayed at Alfred State College

Sections of the internationally celebrated AIDS Memorial Quilt – the 54-ton, handmade tapestry that stands as a memorial to more than 92,000 individuals lost to AIDS – will be on view at Alfred State College, from Monday, Nov. 29, 2010 through Friday, Dec. 3, 2010, from 10 a.m. -4 p.m. in the Allied Health Building, Room 225. The display is open to the public free of charge.

This free Quilt display is being presented as part of World AIDS Day – Dec. 1, 2010, and will be hosted by Kaleidoscope Coalition and Rainbow Union. Established in 1987, The NAMES Project Foundation – the international caretaker of The Quilt -- works to preserve, care for, and use The AIDS Memorial Quilt to foster healing, advance social justice, and inspire action. The Quilt began in San Francisco more than 20 years ago with a single three-by-six-foot panel; today this epic tapestry of hope and love includes more than 47,000 panels. These panels have come from every state in the nation and have been created by friends, lovers, and family members in an attempt to transform loss and heartbreak into hope and healing.

In a war against a disease that has no cure, The AIDS Memorial Quilt has evolved as our most potent tool in the effort to educate against the lethal threat of AIDS. By revealing the humanity behind the statistics, The Quilt helps teach compassion; triumphs over taboo, stigma and phobia; and inspires individuals to take direct responsibility for their own well being and that of their family, friends, and community.

Julie Rhoad, executive director of The NAMES Project Foundation explains, “We are eager to share The AIDS Memorial Quilt with your community for it is unlike any memorial ever created. With teddy bears and Boy Scout badges, love letters and photographs, this American treasure was created by the people for real people who were loved and lost to AIDS. We thank Kaleidoscope Coalition and Rainbow Union for their visionary efforts in hosting this event and invite you to see what wonderful healing art we have created together as a nation.”

Sections are continuously on display across the country in schools, places of worship, community centers, businesses, corporations, and a variety of other institutional settings all in the hope of making the realities of HIV and AIDS real, human, and immediate. To date, more than 19 million people have seen The AIDS Memorial Quilt at tens of thousands of displays throughout the world.

For more information on the upcoming display at Alfred State College, please call (607) 587-3602. For more information on The NAMES Project and The AIDS Memorial Quilt, please visit aidsquilt.org or call the national headquarters at (404) 688-5500.