NAMES Quilt Display April 7-11

NAMES PROJECT AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT TO BE DISPLAYED APRIL 7 TO 11
     COLUMBUS -- A portion of The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial
Quilt will be displayed April 7 to 11 at The Ohio State
University.  The free, public display in the Ohio Union
ballrooms, 1739 N. High St., will contain more than 300 panels
memorializing persons -- many of them from the central Ohio area
-- who have died of AIDS.  Also on display will be several new
panels created locally that will be added to the Quilt at the
conclusion of the four days.
     There will be an opening ceremony at 7 p.m. on Thursday,
April 7.  During the opening ceremony and continually throughout
the next four days, University officials, local television and
radio personalities and others will read the names of persons who
have died of AIDS.  The names also will be read simultaneously in
sign language by volunteers.
     The Quilt is open to the public from 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday,
April 7; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April
8-10; and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, April 11.

     The NAMES Project Quilt began in 1987 in San Francisco.
Today, it contains more than 26,600 panels, 3 by 6 feet in size,
each memorializing a person who has died of AIDS.  This
represents about 13% of the 194,334 reported AIDS deaths in the
United States.

     The panels are highly individualized and use a wide variety
of materials that symbolize aspects of the lives of those they
commemorate.  Some materials that have been used include antique
quilts, clothing, letters, badges and awards, stuffed animals,
car keys, paintings and photographs.

     The goals of the NAMES Project are: to illustrate the
enormity of the AIDS epidemic; to provide a positive and creative
means of expression for those whose lives have been touched by
the epidemic; to support fund raising; and to encourage those
living with HIV infection and their loved ones.

     The NAMES Project has raised over $1.4 million for direct
services for people with AIDS.  Almost 5 million people have
visited the quilt as it has traveled around the United States and
to other countries.  It has been displayed in its entirety in
Washington, D.C., and in portions in many cities.  The Quilt has
been in Columbus once before; in 1989 it was displayed at Ohio
State at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

     The Quilt's visit is sponsored by the Student Events
Committee, a student group which handles programming at the Ohio
Unions, and by the Buckeye Advocates for Student Health, a
student group associated with the Student Health Center.

                                #

NOTE:  Panels made by friends and family of local persons who
have died of AIDS-related causes will be added to the NAMES
Project Quilt while it is in Columbus.  For the names and phone
numbers of three persons who have coordinated the making of a
panel and who are willing to be interviewed about the process,
please call Ruth Gerstner at University Communications, 292-8424.


[Submitted by: GERSTNER  (gerstner@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Tue, 05 Apr 1994 14:05:04 -0500 (EST)]
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