View source for NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt

{{Short description|Memorial quilt project honoring lives lost to AIDS-related causes}}
{{Infobox monument
| name          = NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt
| native_name   = AIDS Memorial Quilt
| image         = Aids Quilt.jpg
| caption       = AIDS Memorial Quilt on display at the <br>[[National Mall]] in Washington, D.C.
| location      = Various locations during exhibitions;<br>San Francisco (when not displayed)
| designer      = [[Cleve Jones]]
| type          = Community memorial arts project
| material      = Fabric, various materials
| length        = {{convert|1300000|ft2|m2|abbr=on}}
| weight        = {{convert|54|ST|kg}}
| begin         = {{start date|1985|11|27}}
| inaugurated   = {{start date and age|1987|10|11}}
| dedicated_to  = People who have lost their lives to AIDS
| extra_label   = Panel artists
| extra         = Friends, family members, loved ones 
| website       = {{URL|https://aidsmemorial.org/quilt}}
}}
The '''NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt,''' often abbreviated to '''AIDS Memorial Quilt''' or '''AIDS Quilt,''' is a memorial to celebrate the lives of people who have died of [[HIV/AIDS|
AIDS]]-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons,<ref>{{cite web |title=Creativity and Crisis: Unfolding The AIDS Memorial Quilt |url=http://www.festival.si.edu/2012/creativity_and_crisis/ |publisher=Smithsonian Center. |date=June 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623142644/http://www.festival.si.edu/2012/creativity_and_crisis/ |access-date=January 25, 2024 |archive-date=June 23, 2012 }}</ref> it is the largest piece of [[community art|community folk art]] in the world, {{as of|2020|lc=y|post=.}}<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt |title= About The Names Project |publisher=National AIDS Memorial |date=March 7, 2020 |access-date=January 25, 2024 }}</ref> It was conceived in 1985, during the early years of the [[Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS|AIDS pandemic]], when social stigma prevented many AIDS victims from receiving funerals. It has been displayed on [[National Mall|the Mall]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], several times. In 2020, it returned to San Francisco, where it is cared for by the [[AIDS Memorial Grove|National AIDS Memorial]].  It can be seen virtually.<ref name="aidsmemorial">{{Cite web |date=November 19, 2022 |title=The History of the Quilt |url=https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt-history |access-date=January 25, 2024 |publisher=National AIDS Memorial}}</ref>

==History and structure==
The idea for the NAMES Project Memorial Quilt was conceived on November 27, 1985, by AIDS activist [[Cleve Jones]] during the annual candlelight march, in remembrance of the [[Moscone–Milk assassinations|1978 assassinations]] of San Francisco Supervisor [[Harvey Milk]] and Mayor [[George Moscone]].<ref name="dupre">{{cite book|last=Dupré, Judith|author-link=Judith Dupré| date= 2007 | title= Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6kUaAQAAIAAJ | location=New York | publisher= Random House | page= 162| isbn=978-1-4000-6582-0}}</ref> For the march, Jones had people write the names of loved ones that were lost to AIDS-related causes on signs, and then they taped the signs to the old [[50 United Nations Plaza Federal Office Building (San Francisco)|San Francisco Federal Building]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://interactive.wttw.com/ten/monuments/aids-memorial-quilt|title=AIDS Memorial Quilt|work=WTTW Chicago Public Media - Television and Interactive|access-date=2018-08-22|language=en}}</ref> All the signs taped to the building looked like an enormous patchwork quilt to Jones, and he was inspired.<ref name="aidsquilt">{{Cite web |title=History of the Quilt |url=http://www.aidsquilt.org/about/the-aids-memorial-quilt |access-date=March 29, 2017 |publisher=The AIDS Memorial Quilt}}</ref>

The NAMES Project officially started in 1987 in [[San Francisco]] by Jones, Mike Smith, and volunteers Joseph Durant, Jack Caster, Gert McMullin, Ron Cordova, Larkin Mayo, Steve Kirchner, and Gary Yuschalk.<ref name="dupre" /> At that time many people who died of AIDS-related causes did not receive funerals, due to both the social stigma of AIDS felt by surviving family members and the outright refusal by many funeral homes and cemeteries to handle the deceased's remains.<ref>{{cite book |last=Laderman |first=Gary |date=2003 |title=Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth Century America |url=https://archive.org/details/restinpeacecultu00lade |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/restinpeacecultu00lade/page/198 198] |isbn=978-0195183559}}</ref> Lacking a memorial service or grave site, the Quilt was often the only opportunity survivors had to remember and celebrate their loved ones' lives. Volunteers created hundreds and later thousands of panels in a storefront on Market Street.<ref name="SF">{{cite news |last1=Waters |first1=Rob |date=Spring–Summer 2017 |title=He's Still Rising |agency=San Francisco State Magazine |url=https://magazine.sfsu.edu/archive/spr-17/along-came-jones |url-status=dead |access-date=5 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804051612/https://magazine.sfsu.edu/archive/spr-17/along-came-jones |archive-date=4 August 2020}}</ref>

The Quilt is a memorial to and celebration of the lives of people lost to the [[AIDS pandemic]] which marks it as a prominent forerunner of the twentieth century shift in memorial design that moved towards celebrating victims or survivors.<ref name="dupre"/> Each panel measures {{convert|3|x|6|ft|cm|-1|abbr=off|sp=us|spell=in}}, approximately the size of the average grave; this connects the ideas of AIDS and death more closely.<ref>{{cite web |title=The AIDS Memorial Quilt |publisher=Public Broadcasting Atlanta |date=February 23, 2009 |url=http://www.pba.org/programming/programs/thisisatlanta/aidsquilt/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305235011/http://www.pba.org/programming/programs/thisisatlanta/aidsquilt/ |archive-date=March 5, 2009 }}</ref>

[[File:Liebman Reading Names at 1993 AIDS Quilt in DC.jpg|thumb|298px|[[Marvin Liebman]] reading names at the AIDS Quilt podium, prior to the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation.]]
[[File:Making an AIDS memorial quilt panel on behalf of Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) Fresno State 1994 (23145979879).jpg|thumb|298px|[[Fresno State University]] students making a quilt panel in 1994.]]
[[File:AIDS quilt, Washington, D.C LCCN2011631696.tif|thumb|298px|AIDS Quilt, Washington, D.C.]]
[[File:Cleve Jones, Mike Smith, and John Cunningham 20191201-8680.jpg|thumb|298px|AIDS Memorial Quilt co-founders Cleve Jones and Mike Smith stand with John B. Cunningham, National AIDS Memorial Executive Director, on [[World AIDS Day]] 2019 in San Francisco.]]
[[File:2362 Market St - Jose Theater-Names Project Building.jpg|thumb|298px|Former NAMES Project Building at 2362 Market St in San Francisco.]]

===Inaugural Quilt display===
The Quilt made its first public appearance on October 11, 1987, during the [[Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights]] on the [[National Mall]]. Comprising 1,920 panels and covering an area larger than a [[American football field|football field]], 48 volunteers ceremonially unfolded the Quilt at sunrise. Participants read aloud the names represented in the Quilt, establishing a tradition followed at subsequent displays. The event drew half a million visitors that weekend.<ref name="aidsmemorial"/><ref>{{Cite web|date=1987-10-11|title=AIDS Quilt displayed on the National Mall|url=http://mallhistory.org/items/show/182|access-date=October 9, 2020|publisher=Smithsonian Institution. (Refer to view original) }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hirshman |first=Linda |date=2012 |chapter=Chapter 7: ACT UP: Five Years That Shook the World |title=Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution |publisher=[[Harper (publisher)|Harper]] |location=New York, New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/victorytriumphan0000hirs/page/212 212] |isbn=978-0-06-196550-0 |quote=As part of that project, in 1987, the NAMES Project took the quilt, then two thousand squares, to the National Mall in Washington, DC, and spread it out before the lawmakers they thought could make the United States government do something different. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/victorytriumphan0000hirs/page/212 }}</ref>

===Quilt tours and exhibits===
The inaugural national tour of The Quilt took place in spring and summer 1988, raising nearly half a million dollars. Assisted by over 9,000 [[Volunteering|volunteers]], a seven-person crew traveled, displayed, and expanded The Quilt. Local panels added in each city tripled its size from 1,920 to over 6,000 panels by the tour's conclusion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the Names Project Foundation |url=https://digitalprojects.rice.edu/wrc/Houston-LGBTQ/exhibits/show/names-project/names-project-foundation |publisher=Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University. |date=December 12, 2019 |access-date=January 25, 2024 |archive-date=April 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414175913/https://digitalprojects.rice.edu/wrc/Houston-LGBTQ/exhibits/show/names-project/names-project-foundation |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The 1989 Quilt North America Tour visited 19 [[United States|U.S.]] cities, including 7 in [[Canada]], coinciding with local [[LGBT movements|LGBT]] events in June and July, laying the groundwork for the Canadian AIDS Memorial Quilt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Names Project Quilt 1989 North America Tour |url=https://issuu.com/rfdmag/docs/057/9 |publisher=RFD Magazine Gay, Issue 57 Spring 1989, p. 7. |date=March 21, 1989 |access-date=January 25, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=The Quilt: Handicraft of the Heart |publisher=The Charlatan 19, No. 1, May 25, 1989, p 16. |url=https://archive.org/details/thecharleton19carl/page/16/mode/1up?q=%22The+Quilt+%3A+Handicraft+of+the+Heart%22 |access-date=January 25, 2024 }}</ref> By October, the Quilt featured over 12,000 panels and was once again exhibited on [[The Ellipse]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name="aidsmemorial"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=AIDS Memorial Quilt Returns to Washington |url=https://issuu.com/rfdmag/docs/058/7 |publisher=RFD Magazine Gay, Issue 58 Summer 1989, p. 5. |date=June 21, 1989 |access-date=January 25, 2024 }}</ref>

In October 1992, the entire Quilt, featuring panels from every state and 28 countries, was displayed on Washington's [[National Mall]]. The quilt, more than 10 times its original size, with over 21,000 handmade panels, stretched from the base of the [[Washington Monument]] to the [[Lincoln Memorial]] in [[President's Park]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=A Stitch in Time : The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt returns to Washington |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-04-ca-1121-story.html |publisher=Los Angeles Times by Christopher Knight |date=October 4, 1992 |access-date=January 25, 2024 }}</ref>

During President Clinton's [[First inauguration of Bill Clinton|inaugural parade]] on January 20, 1993, the NAMES Project participated with over 200 volunteers marching down [[Pennsylvania Avenue]], carrying 90 Quilt panels.<ref>{{cite news|title=Clinton Inaugural Parade |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?37275-1/clinton-inaugural-parade |publisher=C-SPAN |date=January 20, 1993 |access-date=January 25, 2024 |quote=200 volunteers march with Quilt panels at 2:35:15. }}</ref>

Spanning the [[National Mall]] from the [[Washington Monument]] to the [[United States Capitol|U.S. Capitol]] in Washington, The Quilt attracted nearly 1.2 million visitors in October 1996. Over the three-day event, more than 40,000 panels were displayed.<ref name="aidsmemorial"/> Notably, President [[Bill Clinton]] and First Lady [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] attended, marking the last full exhibition of the Quilt on the Mall;<ref>{{cite news |title=Clintons visit AIDS quilt |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/10/11/Clintons-visit-AIDS-quilt/4848845006400/ |access-date=18 July 2018 |publisher=UPI |date=11 October 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=AIDS quilt unfurled in Washington to commemorate victims |publisher=CNN |date=1996-10-11 |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9610/11/aids.quilt/index.html |access-date=2008-03-25}}</ref> by this point in time, the HIV/AIDS epidemic was finally seeing a major decline.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00049322.htm|title=Update: Trends in AIDS Incidence -- United States, 1996|publisher=Center for Disease Control|accessdate=September 16, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/10/08/aids-death-rate-in-97-down-47/6ca3a56d-2015-42fa-b4f4-0ffe2aa22d12/|title=AIDS Death Rate In '97 Down 47%|first=David|last=Brown|newspaper=Washington Post|date=October 7, 1998|accessdate=September 16, 2024}}</ref>

In June 2004, The Quilt featured over 8,000 new panels created since the 1996 exhibit. The display took place on [[The Ellipse]] in Washington, in observance of National HIV Testing Day.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fernandez |first=Manny |title=Unfurling Their Love and Loss; | newspaper=The Washington Post |page=B01 |date=June 26, 2004 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6785-2004Jun25.html |access-date=January 25, 2024 }}</ref>

For the AIDS Memorial Quilt's 25th anniversary in July 2012, comprising over 48,000 panels honoring 94,000 lives lost to AIDS, it returned to the National Mall and 50 sites around D.C. during the [[XIX International AIDS Conference, 2012|XIX International AIDS Conference]]. Due to its size, organizers rotated 1,500 panels daily at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. This event marked the quilt's last full exhibition since 1996.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guide: Quilt In The Capital 2012 |publisher=NAMES Project Foundation |date=June 15, 2012 |url=https://issuu.com/smartandstrong/docs/poz_quilt_guide_2012 |access-date=January 25, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Archives |date=December 17, 2020 |url=https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/aids-memorial-quilt-national-mall |access-date=January 25, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=AIDS Memorial Quilt returning to D.C. |publisher=Washington Blade |date=June 6, 2012 |url=http://www.washingtonblade.com/2012/06/06/aids-memorial-quilt-returning-to-d-c/ |access-date=June 8, 2012 }}</ref>

As of 2020, the AIDS Memorial Quilt is available online, featuring 50,000 panels with nearly 110,000 names sewn into them. The collection is searchable by block number or name, allowing users to read the stories stitched into each panel. A guide is provided for navigating the collection if required.<ref>{{cite news |title=Search the AIDS Memorial Quilt |publisher=National AIDS Memorial |date=2020 |url=https://www.aidsmemorial.org/interactive-aids-quilt |access-date=January 25, 2024 }}</ref>

In June 2022, the National AIDS Memorial commemorated the 35th anniversary of the AIDS Memorial Quilt with a significant outdoor display in Golden Gate Park's Robin Williams Meadow. The exhibition showcased 3,000 panels, offering a poignant tribute to lives affected by AIDS.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt35 |title=Golden Gate Park |publisher=National AIDS Memorial |date=June 1, 2022 |access-date=January 25, 2024 }}</ref>

===Relocation===
In 1997, the NAMES Project headquarters moved from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., and in 2001 the quilt panels were moved from San Francisco to [[Atlanta, Georgia]].<ref>{{cite news |title=AIDS quilt moving to Atlanta from SF |publisher=Associated Press |date=2001-02-07 |url=http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2001-02-07/article/3347?headline=AIDS-quilt-moving-to-Atlanta-from-SF--The-Associated-Press- |access-date=2016-04-07 }}</ref> The NAMES Project Foundation was headquartered in Atlanta.

In 2019, the organization announced that the Quilt would be relocating to San Francisco under the permanent care and stewardship of the [[National AIDS Memorial]]. In 2020, its archives were relocated to the [[American Folklife Center]] at the [[Library of Congress]]. The AIDS Memorial Quilt is warehoused in San Francisco when not being displayed, and continues to grow, consisting of more than 50,000 individual memorial panels (to over 110,000 people) and weighing an estimated 54 tons as of 2022.<ref name="aidsmemorial" />

===Goal and achievement===
The goal of the Quilt is to bring awareness to how massive the AIDS pandemic really is, and to bring support and healing to those affected by it. Another goal is to raise funds for community-based [[AIDS service organization]]s, to increase their funding for AIDS prevention and education. As of 1996, more than $1.7 million had already been raised, and the effort continues to this day.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ellis |first=Fay |title=32,000 Panels in Aids Quilt, 32,000 Victims. |work=The New York Times |date=April 7, 1996 |access-date=February 23, 2009 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904E0D91339F934A35757C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 }}</ref>

==Quilt construction and care==
{{convert|3|x|6|ft|m|1|abbr=off|sp=us|spell=In|adj=on}} panels made typically of fabric are created in recognition of a person who died from AIDS-related complications. The panels are made by individuals alone or in a workshop, such as Call My Name (which focuses on African American representation on the quilt) or in quilting bees, such as the one held during the 2012 [[Smithsonian Folklife Festival]] on the National Mall.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://festival.si.edu/past-program/2012|title=2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival|website=Smithsonian Folklife Festival|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-22}}</ref> Construction choices are left to the quilter and techniques such as traditional fabric quilting, embroidery, applique, paint and stencil, beading, and iron-ons are common.<ref name="steps">{{cite web |title=Step-by-step instructions |url=http://www.aidsquilt.org/make-a-panel/step-by-step-instructions |website=The AIDS Memorial Quit : The Names Project Foundation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206204932/http://www.aidsquilt.org/make-a-panel/step-by-step-instructions |archive-date=2011-12-06 }}</ref>

Items and materials included in the panels:
* Fabrics such as [[lace]], [[suede]], [[leather]], [[mink]], [[taffeta]], also [[Bubble Wrap]] and other [[kinds of plastic]] and even [[metal]].
* Decorative items like [[pearl]]s, [[quartz crystal]]s, [[rhinestone]]s, [[sequin]]s, [[feather]]s, [[Button (clothing)|button]]s.
* Clothing, such as jeans, T-shirts, gloves, boots, hats, uniforms, jackets, flip-flops.
* Items of a personal nature, such as human [[hair]], [[cremation]] ashes, [[wedding ring]]s, [[Merit badge (Boy Scouts of America)|merit badges]] and other awards, car keys.
* Unusual items, such as [[stuffed animal]]s, [[Vinyl record|records]], [[jockstrap]]s, [[condom]]s, and [[bowling ball]]s.

Panels are submitted to the National AIDS Memorial, along with a panel-maker identification form and a documentation letter. Occasionally, other supplemental material is donated along with the panel such as photographs of the subject. The information about the panel is recorded in a database.<ref name="steps" />

Panels are backed in canvas and sewn together in blocks of eight. Grommets for hanging are attached and the blocks are numbered and photographed. The numbers help with identification and location in storage, on the quilt website, and when the quilt is displayed.<ref name="SI">{{cite web |title=Creativity in Crisis - Unfolding the AIDS Memorial Quilt - Displaying the Quilt - Quilt Vocabulary |url=https://festival.si.edu/2012/creativity-and-crisis/quilt-vocabulary/smithsonian |website=Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2012 |access-date=5 January 2019}}</ref>

===Examples of panels===
Those who submit panels do not have to know the person, but they do have to feel some sort of connection with the individual that they want people to recognize. For example, to memorialize [[Queen (band)|Queen]] lead singer [[Freddie Mercury]], there were many panels made, two of which were a solid white background with a blue-and-black guitar, and "Freddy Mercury" written down the sides in black, with the AIDS ribbon above his name,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/12/14423262_6f8bdb6ffc.jpg |title=Freddy Mercury AIDS quilt panel |publisher=[[Flickr]] |access-date=23 February 2009}}</ref> and a purple silk with "Freddie Mercury", "Queen", and "1946–1991" in silver applique, along with two pictures of Mercury with Queen.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3050/2956301569_d56ef01dd2.jpg?v=0 |title=Freddie Mercury AIDS Quilt panel |publisher=[[Flickr]] |access-date=23 February 2009}}</ref>

Many panels were also made for the actor [[Rock Hudson]], one of which consisted of a navy blue background with silver "Rock Hudson" and stars, above a rainbow with the word "Hollywood".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2210/1572109441_ddfcd6e1bf.jpg?v=0 |title=Rock Hudson AIDS Quilt panel |publisher=[[Flickr]] |access-date=23 February 2009}}</ref>

Other panels are made by loved ones and then attached to make one large block. Some are flamboyant and loud, whereas some are more muted and simple.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://imposedblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/aids-quilt-panel-north.jpg |title=AIDS Quilt panel |access-date=25 February 2009}}</ref>

==Recognition and influence==

Panels have been accessioned into the collection of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History (accession number 1998.0254.01) and featured in the book ''The Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AIDS Memorial Quilt Panel |url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_214460 |access-date=2019-02-22 |website=National Museum of American History |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=July 5, 2012 |title=Talk of the Nation: A Quarter-Century Of Memories Unfurl In AIDS Quilt |agency=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/07/05/156301148/a-quarter-century-of-memories-unfurl-in-aids-quilt}}</ref>

=== Awards ===
* The NAMES Project was nominated for a [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1989.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Sheldon Woods |first1=C. |editor1-last=Anderson |editor1-first=Gary L. |editor2-last=Herr |editor2-first=Kathryn G. |title=Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice |date=2007 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=9781452265650 |pages=60–61 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fy11AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT112 |language=en |chapter=AIDS Memorial Quilt}}</ref>
* In 2002, the NAMES Project Chicago Chapter was inducted into the [[Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame |url=http://www.glhalloffame.org/index.pl?page%3Dinductees%26todo%3Dyear |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017032241/http://www.glhalloffame.org/index.pl?page=inductees&todo=year |archive-date=2015-10-17 |access-date=2015-10-28}}</ref>

=== Documentaries ===
* The Quilt is the subject of the [[1989 in film|1989]] [[Peabody Award]]– and [[Academy Award]]–winning [[documentary film]], ''[[Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt]]'', produced by [[Rob Epstein]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Plant |first=Drew |date=2003-03-01 |title=Songbird with a Mission |publisher=A&U Magazine |url=http://www.aumag.org/coverstory/july03cover.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2008-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071204233506/http://www.aumag.org/coverstory/july03cover.html |archive-date=2007-12-04}}</ref> and [[Bill Couturié]], and narrated by [[Dustin Hoffman]].
* ''Never to Be Forgotten'' is a Philo T. Farnsworth Award–winning 54-minute video created by Karen Peper which documents the Quilt's June 1988 visit to Detroit, Michigan.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Francis |first1=William |date=1988-12-15 |title=Two New AIDS Videos Out on the Market |volume=18 |page=37 |work=Bay Area Reporter |issue=50 |url=https://archive.org/details/BAR_19881215/page/n36 |access-date=2019-08-07}}</ref> This display was part of a 20-city tour initiated immediately after the 1987 Washington, DC, inaugural showing. The video begins with footage of the opening ceremony from the Washington DC display and then moves to coverage of the Detroit event. Included are the opening and closing ceremonies at Cobo Hall along with a look at the set up and take down of the display. Volunteers share their feelings about participating in the event and the viewer is given a close-up look at the individual panels. Peper also shot extensive footage of the Quilt's visit to Columbus, OH; Chicago, IL; and the 1987, 1993, and 1996 Washington, D.C., showings. (All video footage is archived at [[ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives|ONE Archives at the USC Libraries]] in Los Angeles, CA.)

=== Music ===
* Songwriter Tom Brown wrote the song "Jonathan Wesley Oliver, Jr." about the Quilt in 1988.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gieseke |first1=Winston |date=2011-08-09 |title=Lee Lessack Sings Songs of Love |language=en |work=Advocate |url=https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/music/2011/08/09/lee-lessack-sings-songs-love |access-date=2019-08-07}}</ref>
* In 1990, [[John Corigliano]]'s ''Symphony No. 1'', inspired by The AIDS Memorial Quilt, premiered in New York.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rockwell |first=John |date=1990-03-18 |title=Review/Music; Contemporary Anguish In Corigliano Symphony |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D81E3CF934A35755C0A964958260 |access-date=2008-03-25}}</ref>
* ''[[Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens]]'', a song cycle developed in the late 1980s with music by Janet Hood and lyrics and additional text by Bill Russell, features songs and monologues inspired by The Quilt.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gioia |first1=Michael |date=2014-01-23 |title=PLAYBILL VIP SPOTLIGHT: Bill Russell Shares ''Elegies'' of the AIDS Epidemic With College Students at Marymount Manhattan |language=en |work=Playbill |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/playbill-vip-spotlight-bill-russell-shares-elegies-of-the-aids-epidemic-with-college-students-at-marymount-manhattan-com-214074 |access-date=2019-08-07}}</ref>
* In 1992, ''[[NAMES Project AIDS Quilt Songbook|The AIDS Quilt Songbook]]'' premiered, a collection of new musical works about the devastation of AIDS compiled by lyric baritone William Parker, who solicited them from composers with whom he had previously worked.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kozinn |first=Allan |date=1993-03-30 |title=William Parker, Baritone, Dies; Specialist in Art Songs Was 49 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE2DF1F39F933A05750C0A965958260 |access-date=2008-03-25}}</ref>
* Washington D.C.'s Different Drummers (DCDD) and the Lesbian and Gay Chorus of Washington (LGCW) commissioned ''Quilt Panels'' from composer Robert Maggio, and the piece premiered in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |date=2012 |title=QUODLIBET: Music to Rejoice, Reflect, and Remember |url=http://www.theesoterics.org/concerts/season-2012/quodlibet |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807181105/http://www.theesoterics.org/concerts/season-2012/quodlibet |archive-date=2019-08-07 |access-date=2019-08-07 |website=The Esoterics}}</ref>
* The NAMES Project was the basis for the musical ''Quilt, A Musical Celebration''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hetrick |first1=Adam |date=2019-05-21 |title=Diana DeGarmo and Andrew Leeds Set for Quilt, A Musical Celebration Benefit Concert |language=en |work=Playbill |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/diana-degarmo-and-andrew-leeds-set-for-quilt-a-musical-celebration-benefit-concert |access-date=2019-08-07}}</ref>

=== Television ===
* The Quilt was displayed on the ABC Soap Opera ''[[One Life to Live]]'' in 1992.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Passalacqua |first1=Connie |title=Strong Dose of Reality for ABC's 'One Life to Live' : Television: The soap shows eight sections of the Names Project AIDS Quilt to conclude a summer-long plot examining homophobia and a gay teen character. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-28-ca-6184-story.html |access-date=2019-08-07 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=1992-08-28}}</ref>
* The AIDS Memorial Quilt was mentioned and shown during the years that ''[[General Hospital]]'' held their Nurses Ball (1994–2001) and raised money for AIDS research. The show's fictional character, [[Michael "Stone" Cates]], was celebrated with a quilt block in 1996.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bidwell |first1=Carol |title='General Hospital' raises funds to fight pediatric AIDS |url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/636489/General-Hospital-raises-funds-to-fight-pediatric-AIDS.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113024507/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/636489/General-Hospital-raises-funds-to-fight-pediatric-AIDS.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |access-date=2019-08-07 |work=Deseret News |date=1998-06-18 |language=en}}</ref>
* In [[A&E Networks|A&E's Biography]] of the 100 Most Influential People of the Millennium, the 94th individual featured is "Patient Zero," recognized as the first [[HIV-positive people|AIDS victim]]. The AIDS Memorial Quilt is showcased at 9:17 within the program, which aired in 1999 and includes footage from the National Mall.<ref>{{cite web |title=Biography of the Millennium: 94 Patient Zero (1st AIDS victim) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKkuk9V2H88&t=498s |publisher=A&E Networks |format=YouTube |date=1999 |access-date=18 March 2024 |time=8m18s (mention of AIDS Memorial Quilt at 9m17s)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A&E's Biography: 100 Most Influential People of the Millennium |url=https://wmich.edu/mus-gened/mus150/biography100.html |publisher=Western Michigan University |date=January 6, 2012 |access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref>
* The Quilt is displayed in the last scene of the Showtime miniseries [[Fellow Travelers (miniseries)|Fellow Travelers]] in 2023.
* The character of Pray Tell in the Ryan Murphy show [[Pose (TV series)|POSE]] had their own panel added to the AIDS Memorial Quilt for the series finale. 

=== Comics ===
* Cartoonist Gerard [[Donelan (cartoonist)|Donelan]], specializing in single-panel comics depicting gay men and women in everyday life, contributed cartoons, pamphlets, and posters to the NAMES Project. These pieces were meant to spread awareness about safe-sex practices for gay people and to garner support for the NAMES Project.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wareham.wickedlocal.com/news/20190629/celebrating-lgbt-pride-month-with-plymouth-gay-artist-gerard-donelan|title=Celebrating LGBT Pride Month with Plymouth gay artist Gerard Donelan|last=Clark|first=Emily|website=Wicked Local Wareham|language=en|access-date=2019-11-27|archive-date=2020-08-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804080620/https://wareham.wickedlocal.com/news/20190629/celebrating-lgbt-pride-month-with-plymouth-gay-artist-gerard-donelan|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Projects inspired by NAMES===
The AIDS Memorial Quilt was the first of its kind as a continually growing monument created piecemeal by thousands of individuals, and as of 2007, it constituted the largest piece of community folk art in the world.<ref>{{cite news |last= McKinley |first= Jesse |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C01E2DE153FF932A05752C0A9619C8B63 |title=  Fight Over Quilt Reflects Changing Times in Battle Against AIDS |newspaper= The New York Times |date= 2007-01-31 |access-date= 2008-03-25}}</ref> The Quilt was followed by, and inspired a number of memorials and awareness projects, both AIDS-related and otherwise. Examples of these include:
* The K.I.A. Memorial Quilt, created to remember those U.S. Armed Forces members killed in the [[Iraq War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kiamemorialquilt.com/ |title=KIA Memorial Quilt - Dedicated to US Military Personnel Killed in Iraq |access-date=2008-03-25 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229164603/http://www.kiamemorialquilt.com/ |archive-date=2008-02-29 }}</ref>
* Following the [[September 11 attacks]] on the United States, a number of quilt projects were created memorializing the victims.
** September 11 Quilts Memorial Exhibition<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.september11quilts.org/ |title=September 11 Quilts Home Page |publisher=September11quilts.org |date=2001-09-11 |access-date=2017-03-29}}</ref>
** United In Memory<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unitedinmemory.net |title=United in Memory |publisher=United in Memory |date=2001-09-11 |access-date=2017-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105203756/http://www.unitedinmemory.net/ |archive-date=2016-11-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
** The World Trade Center Memorial Quilt<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wtcquilt.com/ |title=9-11 Memorial Quilt Project Home Page |publisher=Wtcquilt.com |date=2011-05-27 |access-date=2017-03-29}}</ref>
** America's 9-11 Memorial Quilts<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.911memorialquilts.com/ |title=Americas 9/11 Memorial Quilts |publisher=911memorialquilts.com |access-date=2017-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728195132/http://www.911memorialquilts.com/ |archive-date=July 28, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Many other medical conditions also now have quilts, for example:
** [[Huntington's disease]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://huntingtondisease.tripod.com/hdmemorialquilt/ |title=HD Memorial Quilts |access-date=2008-03-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724010740/http://huntingtondisease.tripod.com/hdmemorialquilt/ |archive-date=2008-07-24 }}</ref>
** [[Congenital heart defect|Congenital heart disease]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thechdquilt.homestead.com/ |title=Thechdquilt |publisher=Thechdquilt.homestead.com |date=2017-02-14 |access-date=2017-03-29}}</ref>
** [[Breast cancer]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://breastcancerquilt.prevention.com/bcq/ |title=Breast Cancer Quilt |publisher=Prevention.com |access-date=2008-03-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504003551/http://breastcancerquilt.prevention.com/bcq/ |archive-date=2006-05-04 }}</ref>

There are also quilts for sub-sects of the AIDS Pandemic, including Canada, 1989,<ref name=canadian-aids-quilt>{{Cite web|url=https://quilt.ca/ |title=The Canadian AIDS Memorial Quilt |publisher=Canadian AIDS Society (CAS) |date=June 1, 2018 |access-date=January 25, 2024 }}</ref> Children, 2010,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.childrenshospital.org/clinicalservices/Site2262/mainpageS2262P5.html |title=Clinical Centers, Departments and Services &#124; Boston Children's Hospital |publisher=Childrenshospital.org |access-date=2017-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706105323/http://www.childrenshospital.org/clinicalservices/Site2262/mainpageS2262P5.html |archive-date=2010-07-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> North Californians, 2008,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stonewallchico.org/panels.html |title=AIDS Panels of Remembrance, Stonewall Chico |access-date=2008-03-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080331080413/http://www.stonewallchico.org/panels.html |archive-date=2008-03-31 }}</ref> Australians, 2009,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aidsquilt.org.au/home.php |title=Australian Aids Quilt |access-date=2010-05-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030154111/http://www.aidsquilt.org.au/home.php |archive-date=2009-10-30 }}</ref> and New Zealand, 1988.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gibson |first=Stephanie |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125828231 |title=Protest Tautohetohe: Objects of Resistance, Persistence and Defiance |last2=Williams |first2=Matariki |last3=Cairns |first3=Puawai |date=2019-11-01 |publisher=Te Papa Press |isbn=978-0-9941460-4-5 |pages=303 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aidsquilt.org.nz |title=The New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt |publisher=Aidsquilt.org.nz |access-date=2017-03-29}}</ref> The Irish Names Quilt was created in 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Irish Names Quilt: Seeing an old exhibition in a new light |url=https://epicchq.com/story/the-irish-names-quilt-seeing-an-old-exhibition-in-a-new-light/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin {{!}} Official Site |language=en-GB}}</ref>

"Virtual" AIDS Memorial Quilts have also been created:
* Project Stitch "Digital Quilt"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://interactionart.org/?page_id=245 |title=Project Stitch – |publisher=Interactionart.org |access-date=2017-03-29}}</ref>
* [[Second Life]]<ref>{{cite web|last=Vollmer |first=Sabine |url=http://scienceinthetriangle.org/2010/12/visiting-second-life-to-see-the-3d-aids-quilt/ |title=Visiting Second Life to see the 3D AIDS quilt « Science in the Triangle |date=2010-12-03 |access-date=2017-03-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210141553/http://scienceinthetriangle.org/2010/12/visiting-second-life-to-see-the-3d-aids-quilt/ |archive-date=2010-12-10 }}</ref>
* [[AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aac.org/site/PageServer?pagename%3Dquilt |title=AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts: Virtual AIDS Quilt |access-date=2008-03-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210181811/http://www.aac.org/site/PageServer?pagename=quilt |archive-date=2010-12-10 }}</ref>
* [[Southern AIDS Living Quilt]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.livingquilt.org/ |title=Southern AIDS Living Quilt — Women Joining Together Fighting HIV/AIDS in the South |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331173524/http://www.livingquilt.org/ |archive-date=2009-03-31 |access-date=March 29, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Columbia University AIDS Memorial<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gables/hiv/mem/ |title=Memorial-Columbians Who Have Died From AIDS |publisher=Columbia.edu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624115101/https://www.columbia.edu/cu/gables/hiv/mem/index.html |archive-date=2023-06-24 |access-date=2017-03-29|url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Canadian AIDS Society#AIDS Memorial Quilt|Canadian AIDS Memorial Quilt]]<ref name=canadian-aids-quilt/>

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a quilt volunteer, McMullin, made protective masks for community service organizations from quilting fabric.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sheeler |first=Jason |date=2020-04-09 |title=Leftover Fabric from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Is Now Being Used to Make Coronavirus Masks |url=https://people.com/human-interest/aids-memorial-quilt-scraps-coronavirus-masks/ |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=People Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

The quilt inspired the creation of the [[UK AIDS Memorial Quilt]] that commemorates the lives of almost 400 individuals affected by HIV/AIDS from the United Kingdom.<ref name=BBC25>{{cite news|last=Parry|first=Josh|last2=Rufo|first2=Yasmin|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgmjrm0m20mo|archive-url=|title='Brave and beautiful people' remembered in Aids quilt display'|date=12 June 2025|work=[[BBC News]]|accessdate=12 September 2025|archivedate=}}</ref>

==Display location==

In November 2019 the NAMES Project Foundation and [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|House Speaker]] [[Nancy Pelosi]] announced that the quilt would relocate to San Francisco under the permanent care and stewardship of the National AIDS Memorial, starting in 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Lauren M. |title=The AIDS Memorial Quilt will head home to San Francisco, 32 years later |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/21/us/aids-quilt-san-francisco-trnd/index.html |access-date=21 November 2019 |work=CNN News |date=21 November 2019}}</ref> The Project's archives were gifted to the joint care with the [[American Folklife Center]] at the U.S. [[Library of Congress]], allowing for greater public access.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-library-of-congress-will-house-the-archives-of-the-famous-aids-quilt/2019/11/20/9f05e29c-0bc1-11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_story.html|title=The Library of Congress will house the archives of the famous AIDS quilt|last=Ruane|first=Michael E.|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2019-11-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=National AIDS Memorial Becomes Steward of AIDS Memorial Quilt |url=https://aidsmemorial.org/theaidsquilt/ |website=National AIDS Memorial |access-date=21 November 2019 |archive-date=22 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322112734/https://aidsmemorial.org/theaidsquilt/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> This action returns the quilt to [[San Francisco]], where the project began.

==See also==
{{Portal|LGBTQ}}
* [[Art of the AIDS Crisis]]
* [[New York City AIDS Memorial]]

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* New York Memorial Quilt records, 1988 (3&nbsp;inches) are housed at the [[New York State Archives]].
* [https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM07574.html Robert Garcia Papers, 1988–1993] (9 cubic feet) are housed at the [[Cornell University Library]] Division of Rare and Manuscript Collection.
* [https://searcharchives.library.gwu.edu/repositories/2/resources/191 Jim Graham Papers, 1961-2015] (80.5 linear feet) are housed at the [[George Washington University]] [https://library.gwu.edu/scrc Special Collections Research Center].
* Vito Russo Papers, 1969–1990 (21 linear feet) are housed at the [[New York Public Library]].
* [https://searcharchives.library.gwu.edu/repositories/2/resources/397 Washington Blade Lou Chibbaro Senior Report files, 1980–2001] (39 linear feet) are housed at the [[George Washington University]] [https://library.gwu.edu/scrc Special Collections Research Center]..
* [https://festival.si.edu/blog/2012/2362-market-street-stories/ 2362 Market Street Stories] by Patricia Wakida, 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Creativity in Crisis, blog profile of Gert McMullin
* [[Judith Dupré|Dupré, Judith]] (2007). ''Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory''. New York: Random House. {{isbn|978-1-4000-6582-0}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|AIDS Memorial Quilt}}
* [http://www.aidsmemorial.org National AIDS Memorial website]
* [http://www.ragefilm.com/ Documentary and overview description of the 1996 quilt display] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207080232/http://ragefilm.com/ |date=2009-02-07 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131026001234/http://www.savethemall.org/moments/quilt.html "National Coalition to Save Our Mall: The AIDS Memorial Quilt" (archived)]

{{HIV and AIDS}}
{{layered textiles}}
{{LGBT in Georgia (U.S. state)}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Names Project Aids Memorial Quilt}}
[[Category:HIV/AIDS activism in the United States]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Atlanta]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Atlanta]]
[[Category:Quilts]]
[[Category:1987 works]]
[[Category:LGBTQ culture in Atlanta]]
[[Category:History of San Francisco]]
[[Category:1987 establishments in California]]
[[Category:1987 in San Francisco]]
[[Category:HIV/AIDS memorials in the United States]]
[[Category:Embroidery in the United States]]
[[Category:Art in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Largest things]]