AIDS+Memorial+Quilt

The AIDS Memorial Quilt is an enormous quilt made as a memorial to and celebration of the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece of community folk art in the world.

The Quilt is maintained and displayed by The NAMES Project Foundation and was started in 1987 in San Francisco by Cleve Jones, Mike Smith and a group of volunteers. 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. Lacking a memorial service or grave site, The Quilt was often the only opportunity survivors had to remember and celebrate their loved ones' lives. The full Quilt was last displayed in full on The Mall in Washington, D.C., in 1996.