The AIDS Memorial Quilt Display

The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a powerful visual reminder of the AIDS pandemic. The quilt consists of more than 48,000 individual 3-by-6-foot memorial panels, most commemorating the life of someone who has died of AIDS.  These panels have been sewn together by friends, lovers and family members. Bloomfield's Center for Student Leadership and Engagement (CSLE) encourages you to take a moment to view a portion of The Quilt and reflect on the message and reminder it serves for us all.

Established in 1987, The NAMES Project Foundation is the international non-governmental organization that is the custodian of The AIDS Memorial Quilt, an official American treasure. The mission of The NAMES Project Foundation is to preserve, care for and use The AIDS Memorial Quilt to foster healing, heighten awareness, and inspire action in the age of AIDS. Specifically, The NAMES Project works to display The Quilt in nearly 1,000 venues each year, to conserve and care for the aging 54-ton tapestry and its half a million piece archive, and to encourage and support the creation of new Quilt panels for this ever-evolving handmade memorial.

Weighing 54 tons and composed of more than 48,000 panels dedicated to more than 94,000 individuals, The AIDS Memorial Quilt is the premier symbol of the AIDS pandemic, our greatest HIV prevention education tool and the largest ongoing piece of community folk art in the world. Throughout its 25-year history, The Quilt has been used to fight prejudice, raise awareness, and funding as a means to link hands with the global community in the fight against AIDS. Whether The Quilt is displayed as a single section in an elementary school or 1,000 of blocks on the national mall in Washington, it provides balm for the painful wounds of grief, pours oil into the waters made turbulent by controversy, opens eyes that refuse to see and enlists every person who experiences it to play a role in stopping the pandemic.

The Quilt will be on display at Bloomfield College in the Deacons Den from November 19 to December 3, 2012.

On November 29th at 2:00 p.m. in the Deacons Den, there will be a World AIDS Day commemoration that is open to the college community to remind ourselves that this pandemic still affects millions of lives each year. Dean Rose Mitchell will welcome speakers from the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation who will share their personal stories and educate guests about HIV/AIDS facts. A student will lead the candle vigil and speak about his experience living with HIV. Bloomfield students will be distributing ribbons and creating candy bags for children who receive services from the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation or AIDS Resource Foundation for Children.

For more information about The Quilt and the NAMES Project Foundation, please visit www.aidsquilt.org

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