Bay Area Reporter - April 6, 2001
Katie Szymanski

The quilt, which is actually a collection of over 40,000 panels from various geographic regions, is now en route to its new temporary home in Atlanta. The staff of the Names Project - the nonprofit that oversees the quilt's fundraising and exhibition - are heading toward their new home in Washington, D.C.

Given the political realities around AIDS these days, the ultimate goal is to find a permanent home for the quilt in Washington, where its presence in conjunction with the Names Project Foundation will allow more collaboration with groups like the National Association for People with AIDS and the AIDS Action Council. The San Francisco chapter of the Names Project - the local outlet for people to create and view smaller sections of the quilt - will remain in the city and in fact has just secured a more permanent home in the Castro.

The quilt's move will mean little to San Franciscans in terms of access - although housed in the city, it was constantly traveling in pieces around the country - but nevertheless the significance of one of San Francisco's babies leaving the nest drew dozens to a farewell ceremony last Friday.

District Attorney Terence Hallinan, Supervisor Mark Leno, U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi, and Assemblyman Kevin Shelley were all on hand to relate their personal stories of grief and growth; Cleve Jones, the creator of the quilt, was present to reassure people that the move was a good decision; and the crowd that gathered was armed with chalk, turning the alley off Townsend Street into an impromptu panel of names of loved ones lost.

"Wherever the quilt is located, we will deploy it," said Jones. "It is à a weapon made of love to fight against the epidemic.''

Sew long

It was Jones who first conceived of the Names Project during the annual Harvey Milk/George Moscone Memorial March in San Francisco in 1985. Jones had asked march participants to post the names of loved ones lost on the side of the federal building, and suddenly the image of a giant outstretched quilt appeared. He sewed the first square, in memory of his best friend, in 1987, and packed up the last panel into a big rig truck headed south to mark last Friday's rite of passage.

Jones told the Bay Area Reporter that while he is sad to know that the quilt is no longer in San Francisco, it never really stayed in the city, "or else we wouldn't be doing our job."

"The facility on Townsend was little more than a holding center," said Jones. "The quilt is always out being displayed somewhere."

The quilt also is always growing and never quite together in one place, which means that San Francisco will still have a place to create and show its latest efforts, and will still be a place where geographically relevant panels will come for exhibit.

In the short term, said Jones, he is looking forward to the Atlanta move, particularly because it will help to engage African American leadership with the AIDS quilt.

"We are taking every step we can to make sure the quilt is useful to the black community," he said, noting that the Names Project and the National Minority AIDS Council will hold a vigil and quilt display in Washington, D.C. on December 3.

"It's a good move for the quilt," said Jones. "I'm sad it's leaving. But we have to put strategy above sentiment, and that's what we're doing here."

For more information on the quilt, including updated addresses and news of future displays, the Names Project recommends continued visits to www.aidsquilt.org.
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