The NAMES Project Foundation, the international caretaker of The AIDS Memorial Quilt, invites the public to gather to create new Quilt panels for members of the community lost to HIV/AIDS. This is a free, panel making workshop titled “Call My Name” and will be hosted by AIDS Memorial Quilt Curator Jada Harris and Julie Rhoads, President & CEO of The NAMES Project Foundation.
The “Call My Name” workshop will be presented on Sunday April 27th 2014, at the Lindsey Street Baptist Church (550 Lindsey St NW, Atlanta GA 30314) from 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm. No sewing experience is necessary and materials will be provided. Williams explains, “We have all been touched by HIV/AIDS and by creating a panel for The Quilt, we, as a community, are honoring those we have lost and we are transforming that loss into something that offers hope and can keep others safe from this horrible disease.”
The AIDS Memorial Quilt was created one 3 x 6 foot panel at a time by more than 100,000 individuals from across the country and around the world. With everything from teddy bears to wedding rings, B
oy Scout badges to love letters, the more than 48,000 handmade panels that comprise The Quilt are as varied as the individuals they honor and the people who created them. Each year, sections of The Quilt are presented in nearly 1,000 displays around the world — in community centers, schools, places of worship, corporations, etc. — in an effort to share the messages of hope, healing and action found on The Quilt.
As HIV/AIDS claims more and more lives in the African American community, the demand for Quilt is growing. Communities understand the power of The Quilt to open hearts and minds and to save lives, but right now we simply don’t have enough Quilt made by and for the African American community to meet this demand. Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition (AHRC), a partner on this project, uses the harm reduction model as a key prevention tool to fight the transmission of HIV and other blood borne diseases. Please consider attending and helping us remember, create and strengthen our greatest HIV prevention tool– The AIDS Memorial Quilt.
This program is supported in part by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Westside Communities Alliance, and Africa Atlanta 2014. For more information on the “Call My Name” workshops, please go to aidsquilt.org/callmyname or e-mail sheridf@iac.gatech.edu.