November 23, 2010 - Sections of the internationally celebrated AIDS Memorial Quilt– the 54-ton, handmade tapestry that stands as a memorial to more than 92,000 individuals lost to AIDS– will be on display at Polk State College as part of an observance of World AIDS Day: December 1, 2010. Visitors may attend the free display November 29 through December 3 at the Polk State College Fine Arts Gallery in Winter Haven, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Established in 1987, the NAMES Project Foundation– the international caretaker of The Quilt– works to preserve, care for and use The AIDS Memorial Quilt to foster healing, advance social justice and inspire action. The Quilt began in San Francisco more than twenty years ago with a single 3x6-foot panel, and today it includes more than 47,000 panels. These panels have come from every state in the nation and have been created by friends, loved ones and family members in an attempt to transform loss and heartbreak into hope and healing.

In a war against a disease that still has no cure, The AIDS Memorial Quilt has evolved as a potent tool in the effort to educate against the lethal threat of AIDS by revealing the humanity behind the statistics. Julie Rhoad, Executive Director of The NAMES Project Foundation, said, “We are eager to share The AIDS Memorial Quilt with your community for it is unlike any memorial ever created. With teddy bears and Boy Scout badges, love letters and photographs, this American treasure was created by the people for real people who were loved and lost to AIDS.”

Sections of The Quilt are continuously on display across the country in schools, places of worship, community centers, businesses, corporations and a variety of other institutional settings, in hope of making the realities of HIV and AIDS real, human and immediate. To date, more than 19 million people have viewed The AIDS Memorial Quilt at tens of thousands of displays throughout the world.

For more information on the upcoming display in the Polk State College Fine Arts Gallery, please call Cate Igo at 863-292-3759. For more information on The NAMES Project and The AIDS Memorial Quilt, please visit aidsquilt.org or call the national headquarters at 404-688-5500.