Date: Mon, 3 Apr 1995 16:24:32 -0400
From: David B. O'Donnell <atropos@aol.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list GLB-NEWS <GLB-NEWS@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU>
Subject: AIDS Memorial Quilt NYC at Columbia

[ Send all responses to AIDSQUILT@columbia.edu only. Any responses to the
list or list-owners will be returned to you. ]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 23, 1995
CONTACT: NATHAN COOPER    (212) 853-5909
         ROSALYN NASH     (212) 853-7415
         QUILT INFO. LINE (212) 854-4965
        AIDSQUILT@columbia.edu

Columbia University to Display the AIDS Memorial Quilt April 22nd, 1995

Largest New York Area Display in Almost a Decade

A one-day display of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, an international
memorial to those who have died of AIDS, will open Saturday, April 22nd at
Columbia University in New York City. The local display will feature over
2,000 panels, each commemorating the life of someone who has died of AIDS.
The entire AIDS Memorial Quilt includes over 27,000 panels made by friends,
family members and lovers, and is personalized with materials from leather
and favorite t-shirts to photographs and teddy bears.

At the ceremony beginning at 12:00pm, teams of volunteers, including groups
from Columbia, Barnard, and the New York area, will unfold the Quilt while
local residents read aloud the names of some of those lost to AIDS. Speakers
will include former New York City mayor David Dinkins, Borough President Ruth
Messinger, and other celebrities.

This display of the Quilt, organized by student leaders of Columbia and
Barnard, is the largest in New York City since the Central Park display
nearly a decade ago. Organizers expect over 15,000 visitors to attend.  The
display will coincide with the UNIVERSE BENFIT, a danceathon to raise funds
for God's Love We Deliver, a neighborhood charity that delivers hot meals to
people who are homebound with AIDS. Famous disk jockeys and performers will
entertain as nearly 2,000 NYU, Fordham and Columbia students dance the night
away.

Each New Yorker will have the opportunity to contribute to the Quilt.
Columbia University will be holding a series of Panelmaking workshops.
Experienced volunters will be providing a supportive atmosphere and practical
tips for quilters who want to make a panel for friends, family members and
loved ones. The workshops will be on March 26th & 28th and April 5th. A
private dedication ceremony will follow on April 21st at Columbia's St.
Paul's Chapel.  Contact AIDSQUILT@columbia.edu for more information about
panelmaking.

The Quilt began in San Fransisco as one man's protest against the AIDS
epidemic. In June of 1987, Cleve Jones spray-painted his friend Marvin
Feldman's name onto a piece of cloth approximately the size of a grave.
Friends, acquaintances and strangers joined the effort by making panels of
their own. Soon, thousands of people across the United States and around the
world were adding names and expressing their emotions by creating hand-made
memorials for the loved ones they had lost to AIDS.

Today the Quilt continues as a powerful, visible symbol of the worldwide
epidemic. It includes panels from all 50 states and 29 foreign countries.
The NAMES Project foundation displays portions of the Quilt around the world
to encourage visitors to better understand and respond to the disease, to
provide a positive means of expression for those grieving the death of a
loved one, and to raise funds for people living with HIV and AIDS.

The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize
in 1989. In 1990, "Common Threads," a feature-length documentary about the
Quilt, won an Academy Award. Since 1987, more than three million people have
viewed the Quilt and more than $1.4 million has been raised for AIDS service
organiztions throughout North America.

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*         AIDS Memorial Quilt New York - Columbia University 1995           *
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*                            *          ***                                 *
* Columbia University       ***         ***  **                             *
* 103 Schapiro Hall     ** *****   **   ***  **       Phone (212)854-4965   *
* 1116 Amsterdam Ave.   ** ***** ****** ***  **       Fax   (212)854-2906   *
* New York, NY 10027    ** *****  ****  ***  ******   AIDSQuilt@columbia.edu*
*                       ** *****   **   ***  ******                         *
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*               thus weave for us a garment of brightness...                *
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