Countywide : UC Irvine to Display Part of AIDS Quilt

A large section of the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be displayed tonight at UC Irvine, in memory of the more than 500 Orange County residents who have lost their lives to the disease.

The exhibition in the UC Irvine Student Center will run from 5 to 10 p.m. and continues Friday, on World AIDS Day. The panels will be on display from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

Sections of the NAMES Project’s AIDS Memorial Quilt have been displayed throughout the United States and in 29 countries. It was begun in 1987 by San Francisco gay rights activist Cleve Jones, who created a single panel in memory of a companion who died of AIDS. The quilt now has more than 3,000 panels.

About 700 panels will be on display at UC Irvine.

“It really personalizes AIDS,� said David Armendariz, director of volunteer services for the AIDS Services Foundation of Orange County. “This brings it home that these are real people who have families and who have been robbed from us because of this disease.�

To date, more than 2,500 county residents infected with HIV have died, according to the county Health Care Agency.

Events during the three-day UC Irvine exhibition include a reunion for those who have made quilt panels at 7:30 this evening and a dedication ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday for new quilt panels.

A candlelight vigil is planned for 9 p.m. Friday, followed the next day by a 2 p.m. discussion and a 5:45 p.m. closing ceremony.

Information: (714) 490-3880.