A solemn ceremony with a reading of the names of loved ones lost to the AIDS epidemic will mark the opening of an AIDS quilt display in the Castro this weekend.
Organizers are installing 35 12 feet by 12 feet blocks, or completed quilts, inside an empty storefront at 2278 Market Street near the heart of the city's LGBT neighborhood. Each block, or quilt section, is comprised of eight 6 feet by 3 feet memorial panels created specifically for a person who died from AIDS.
Beginning at noon Sunday, February 12 a traditional unfolding ceremony will be held, during which a list of approximately 10,000 names of those memorialized with a quilt will be read that day. A number of local leaders and community members have been invited to take part in the ceremony and read a portion of the list of names.
As the Bay Area Reporter reported last month, this is the first time since 1999 that such a large collection of quilt panels has gone on public view at one time in San Francisco. The showing is not only timed to coincide with Valentine's Day Tuesday, February 14 but also marks the AIDS Memorial Quilt's 25th anniversary.
The genesis for the show came five months ago from Castro businessman Petyr Kane, who owns clothing stores Citizen and Body. He enlisted the help of Under One Roof, a Castro store that donates proceeds to local HIV agencies, and inquired with the Names Project Foundation, the nonprofit steward of the quilt, about mounting a show in the city.
"The quilt has not been shown in San Francisco for years. Many of my employees who are part of the younger generation have no knowledge about it," Kane said during a meeting last week for Castro merchants in explaining why he felt the time was right to bring the quilt back.
In addition to the quilts that will be housed at the former Tower Records space, four Castro businesses will each display a 12-foot by 12-foot block of the quilt for the duration of the exhibit, which runs through Monday, February 20.
The other locations are Body (450 Castro Street), Under One Roof (518A Castro Street), Bank of America (501 Castro Street), and Catch (2362 Market Street). The seafood restaurant's building is where both the Names Project and Under One Roof were originally housed in the 1990s.
In 2000 the Names Project relocated to Atlanta, where it is now headquartered and stores the majority of quilt panels. A small segment of the quilt remains in storage in San Francisco and, at times, panels have been shown at area schools or at City Hall.
The display at the Market Street space will be open to the public from noon to 8 p.m. during the eight-day exhibit. Entrance is free, though donations will be accepted and distributed to a number of local AIDS nonprofits.
"We wanted to do something big that would draw attention back to this critical issue, and combat what we're seeing as a decreasing concern about getting infected," stated Beth Feingold, executive director of Under One Roof. "We're so grateful to all involved for their hard work in getting this event off the ground, and hope the quilt will remind the community of the thousands of friends and loved ones we've lost through the years. They are still, and will continue to be, dearly missed."