AIDS Quilt comes to AIC
 |
SPRINGFIELD--The AIDS Memorial Quilt, a poignant memorial and powerful tool for use in preventing new HIV infections, is on display at American International College. The quilt, the largest ongoing community arts project in the world, will be on display from Dec. 3 - 7 in the Karen Sprague Cultural Arts Center.
Several classes visited the display during the week, and an AIDS Awareness Banquet was held on tuesday, Dec. 4, sponsored by the AIC AIDS Awareness Committee.
Each "block" of the quilt measures approximately 144 square feet, and a typical block consists of eight individual three by six foot panels sewn together. Nearly everyone of the 40,000 colorful panels that make up the quilt memorializes the life of a person lost to AIDS. As the epidemic continues to claim lives around the world, the quilt continues to grow and to reach more communities with its remembrance, awareness and hope.
Nicole Barone, director of AIC Student Activities, said the college is very fortunate to have been chosen to display the quilt. "The existence of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and enthusiasm about hosting it is a cultural commentary on the evolution of attitudes toward people who have lost their lives to this deadly disease," she said. "Viewing the Quilt can be an emotional and enlightening experience."
Each panel represents a single person who died of AIDS. They are typically created by a loved one of the deceased and are the size of a human grave (3'x6'). The panels are assembled in 12'x12' blocks.
AIC will display eight blocks representing the lives of 64 individuals. The entire Quilt, housed in Atlanta, Ga., and contains 5,748 blocks (more than 44,000 individual memorial panels).
"This immense project reveals enormous suffering from this epidemic. Of course, world wide, tens of thousands more have perished and even more are left behind grieving for lost friends and family."
The quilt will be on display in the West Wing Gallery of the Sprague Cultural Arts Center Monday - Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and on Friday from 9:00 a.m. - noon.
American International College
1000 State Street
Springfield MA 01109
(800) 242-3142
inquiry@aic.edu