Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - September 20, 2005
Jo Stanley, jstanley@examiner.com
"I didn't get a penny," Jones said. But he was upbeat nonetheless this week about having won, with the help of his attorney Angela Alioto, the right to start his own nonprofit in town that would display and, once again, use as an educational tool, dozens of panels stitched together to remember loved ones who died.
Jones said the idea, which came about through volunteer vision and efforts then grew to 400,000-some panels and drew more than 1 million visitors in the nation's capital, would be coming full circle in a sense.
He is seeking a storefront on Market Street to call home base and hopes to be ready to show parts of the quilt, which hasn't been seen in its entirety for nine years, by November.
Jones, who constructed the first panel in memory of his best friend Marvin Feldman, said he's eager to tap its visual and emotional power to remind people that they need to be aware of the risks.
"The only way we can keep the infection down is by constantly reaching out to young people," he said. He noted that fresh ideas, such as reproducing certain messages on sidewalk steps, have already given the project new life.
Terence Kissack, a historian who heads the LGBT Historical Society, said it's hard for some people to imagine a time in which many San Franciscans were continuously caring for and witnessing the deaths of dear friends. He called the quilt a unique symbol that survivors used to win nationwide attention for the cause.
"It took what was for so many people a profoundly isolating experience and provided a way to build community," Kissack said.
Any panels Jones displays will be on loan from the Names Project Foundation, which fired him in late 2003 over a dispute about whether he would meet their fundraising goals. Under the settlement, he may do fund raising for his San Francisco project within certain limits and also gets to nominate four people as board members for his former employer, of which two will be selected.
But Charles Thompson, an attorney for the foundation, said San Francisco Superior Court found no merit to the argument that Jones was unfairly terminated. He said the lawsuit had been distracting its leaders from their AIDS-education mission. "It cost the foundation a lot of money," he said.
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