The NAMES Project Foundation

Established in 1987, The NAMES Project Foundation, Inc. is the international caretaker of The AIDS Memorial Quilt, and official American treasure. The mission of The Names Project is to preserve, care for, and use The AIDS Memorial Quilt to foster healing, heighten awareness, and inspire action in the age of AIDS.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt

The AIDS Memorial Quilt is unlike any monument ever created. Beginning with a single panel of fabric, a single name and that one stretch, is now joined by tens of thousands of panels created one at a time to honor, mourn and remember loved ones lost to HIV/AIDS. With more than 47,000 handmade panels created in memory of nearly 91,000 individuals lost to HIV/AIDS, The Quilt is the largest, ongoing, piece of community folk art project in the world and our most potent weapon in the battle to educate against HIV/AIDS.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a vivid reminder that HIV/AIDS can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any age. With teddy bears and Boy Scout badges, wedding rings and faded photographs, it allows us to see not a disease or a set of statistics, but a father, mother, child, brother or sister. By revealing the humanity behind the statistics, The Quilt helps teach compassion, triumphs over taboo, stigma and phobia; and inspires individuals to take direct responsibility for their own well being and that of their family, friends and community.

Hosting a Display

Each year, The NAMES Project Foundation works with organizations across the country to present more than 1,000 displays in schools, universities, community centers, places of worship, corporations, art galleries – all in hope of making HIV/AIDS real, human, and immediate.

Hosting a display of The Quilt is easy and affordable. Quilt displays vary in size, but each one includes 12 - foot - by - 12 - foot Quilt blocks, each containing eight individual panels.

 View the schedule of upcoming quilt display

Creating a Panel

Anyone can create a panel for The AIDS Memorial Quilt. You do not need to be an artist or know how to sew to create a moving, personal tribute. Whether you choose to use paint on a bed sheet or sew elaborate embroidery is up to you. You can create a panel on your own, or create a powerful experience by gathering friends, family, and co-workers to help you in the panel making process. The NAMES Project also presents panel making workshops that are free and open to the public. Creating a panel is a powerful way to remember, heal, celebrate and transform loss into action.

More Information on panelmaking

Supporting The Quilt

People who visit The Quilt are forever changed.  Indifference becomes concern, ignorance becomes understanding and in the process perhaps lives are saved, communities are united and progress is made.  Please join us in this important work and demonstrate you concern by making a contribution to help us educate about the lethal threat of HIV/AIDS, to inspire compassion for those living with the disease, and to help us care for this epic, aging, handmade memorial.