The Names Project: national AIDS Memorial Quilt panel in Sisson Gallery
HFC Director of Theatre Dr. John Michael Sefel has announced that the College has booked a section of the world-famous NAMES Project: AIDS Memorial Quilt to be on display in the Sisson Art Gallery in the MacKenzie Fine Arts Center (Building F on the main campus) from Friday, November 8, through Thursday, December 5.
“I'm extremely excited to announce we will have a section of the AIDS Quilt on display in the Sisson!” said Sefel.
Displaying this section of the AIDS Quilt coincides with HFC’s production of Dear Harvey, which runs Friday, November 15, through Saturday, November 23. Dear Harvey chronicles the life of Harvey Milk, a civil rights activist, politician, and LGBTQ+ icon, who was assassinated on November 27, 1978, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone.
Sefel explained the intentional ways the Theatre productions are reflecting and amplifying the lived experiences of different groups. “A fundamental part of our mission is to help tell the stories of our community,” he said. “The Detroit Wall Project looked unflinchingly into the history of our neighborhoods. With productions like Tenderly, Leo’s Big Day Out, and several plays coming up soon, we’re centering the experiences of our many Arab American students. This semester’s play, Dear Harvey, explores and celebrates figures like Harvey Milk, Cleve Jones, Anne Kronenberg, and others who were paramount in the LGBTQ+ struggle for civil rights, and who are often left out of history books. Bringing a piece of ‘living history’ like the AIDS Quilt to campus – particularly a panel created by Detroiters – emphasizes that this is not a story of ‘long ago and far away,’ but is the story of our own community.”
AIDS Quilt panel will be at HFC on World AIDS Day
The timeline ensures that the AIDS Quilt section will be present at the College on Sunday, December 1, which is World AIDS Day. “The Quilt will be at HFC during the week of World AIDS Day and any associated events that other campus organizations may wish to pursue,” said Sefel.
The section of the AIDS Quilt (panel no. 2913) to be displayed in the Sisson was created by the Detroit Chapter of the Names Project and memorializes people from the area who have died of AIDS:
- George Kessopulos
- Jeffrey R. Weaver
- Reginald Bracket
- Kraig Debus
- Kal Lintemuth
- Carl Miller
- Reid Hayden
"I am so excited and proud that HFC is bringing the AIDS Quilt to campus,” said SAFE@HFC co-advisor Elyse Hogan. “To me, this historic community arts project exemplifies the extraordinary creativity and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community. While the quilt represents so much loss and grief, it also represents a community coming together to support each other through crisis, which is something we can all learn from."
History of the AIDS Quilt
The AIDS Quilt is a memorial to commemorate the lives of people who have died of AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses. The entire quilt weighs approximately 54 tons and is the largest piece of community folk art in the world.
AIDS and LBGTQ+ activist Cleve Jones (played by HFC alumnus Jesse Mattox in Dear Harvey) conceived the idea for the AIDS Quilt on November 27, 1985 – the seventh anniversary of the assassinations of Milk and Moscone – during the annual candlelight march in memory of these two men. For this march, Jones had people write the names of their loved ones who died of AIDS on signs, which they then taped to the old San Francisco Federal Building. To Jones, all these signs looked like an enormous patchwork quilt, which inspired him to create the AIDS Quilt.
"As an alum returning to HFC to be a part of Dear Harvey, I am honored to be cast in the role of Cleve Jones – the activist and founder of the AIDS Quilt. I was thrilled to find out that we will be bringing a portion of the quilt to our campus, which will be on display throughout the run of the show,” said Mattox. “The panel, which honors the names of those who lost their lives to the AIDS epidemic in the Metro Detroit area, is a testament to the activism of Jones and is proof that his work still resonates with today's society."
The AIDS Quilt project officially began in 1987 by Jones and several other activists. During that period, many people who died of AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses did not receive funerals because of the social stigma of AIDS felt by surviving family members, and the refusal by many funeral homes and cemeteries to handle the deceased's remains. Lacking a memorial service or gravesite, the AIDS Quilt was the only opportunity for survivors to remember their loved ones.
On October 11, 1987, the AIDS Quilt made its first public appearance during the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on the National Mall, which drew nearly 500,000 people. With 1,920 panels and its coverage area larger than a football field, nearly 50 volunteers carefully unfolded the AIDS Quilt at sunrise. Participants read the names of everyone represented on the AIDS Quilt, which established a tradition that has been followed at subsequent displays.
AIDS Quilt attracts more than 1 million visitors, including President Clinton
The inaugural national tour of the AIDS Quilt occurred in 1988, raising approximately $500,000. By the end of the tour, the size of the AIDS Quilt went from 1,920 panels to more than 6,000. In 1989, the AIDS Quilt traveled to 19 cities in the United States and seven in Canada, inspiring the Canadian AIDS Memorial Quilt.
In October 1996, the AIDS Quilt attracted more than 1 million visitors in Washington, D.C., spanning the National Mall from the Washington Monument to the U.S. Capitol. President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton were in attendance.
"I feel excited and proud to have a panel of the AIDS Quilt here at HFC,” said HFC English instructor Dr. Chelsea Lonsdale. “I first learned about it when I was an undergraduate student at Eastern Michigan University. Seeing part of the quilt displayed in the EMU Student Center was a powerful reminder of the progress we’ve made, but also the monumental losses we have suffered. These people were our family members, our neighbors, our friends, our teachers, our children, and they were so deeply loved. Having the quilt on display here alongside our production of Dear Harvey is an honor."
By 2020, the AIDS Quilt had 50,000 panels with nearly 110,000 names mentioned. It also became available online. The AIDS Quilt is stored in San Francisco when it is not being displayed. It continues to grow.
“I’m excited we’ll have the AIDS Quilt for our community to see and experience because the whole point of this quilt is the experience of it. It’s not made as high art; it’s made as a memory,” said HFC Sisson curator Steve Glazer. “To me, it’s a lot like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where you see all the names, because the names are in front of you and they become real people as opposed to just a monument. I view the AIDS Quilt in the same way, because each section is made in tribute and dedication to a person by their loved ones.”
For questions or more information about the AIDS Quilt, contact Sefel at jsefel@hfcc.edu or Glazer at sglazer@hfcc.edu. For questions or information about Dear Harvey, contact Sefel at jsefel@hfcc.edu.