NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt
Since 1990, Rice University has periodically displayed panels of the the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. The Quilt is the largest on-going community arts project in the world. Each of the over 42,960 colorful panels in the Quilt was made to remember the life of a person lost to AIDS. Panels are 3 by 6 feet -- the size of a human grave. As the epidemic claims more lives, the Quilt continues to grow. The Quilt stands for more than the tens of thousands of people whose names are sewn into the fabric. It stands, as well, for the sorrow, anger, love and hope of people who make panels.
Information on the next display to be announced in early fall 2009.
Jesse Dickerman reads names during the 2001 display of people who have died of AIDS.
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The Community Involvement Center, in conjunction with Sexual Health Awareness Week, sponsors the display of 100 panels in the Rice Memorial Center (RMC) Grand Hall. In addition to the panels, there is also a Rice Signature Quilt, started in 1995, which joins the display each year. The Signature Quilt is a place for viewers to leave their comments and thoughts after visiting the Quilt. A new Rice Signature Quilt was started in 2001. Names of people who have died of AIDS and have a quilt in their memory are read continuously throughout the display by Rice volunteers.
Jerry and Delores McCall share their personal experience with AIDS, during the 2001 display.
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Since the first display at Rice, Jerry and Delores McCall, volunteers with The Names Project who lost their son to AIDS, travel to Rice to coordinate the display, share their experiences, and educate the campus about the epidemic. Unfortunately, Jerry and Delores McCall have retired from volunteering with the NAMES Project. They will be greatly missed, but Rice will continue to have a display each year. In addition to the Quilt's display, the Community Involvement Center organizes a food and toiletries drive benefiting local AIDS hospices and a campus-wide red ribbon distribution. The annual display is a campus-wide effort as more than 100 volunteers are needed to monitor the Quilt and more than 100 name readers participate. 750 visitors viewed the quilts during the 2001 three-day display.
View Photo Gallery (click on AIDS Memorial Quilt Display)