Blocks honoring Arkansans to be on display Oct. 6-31
A portion of “The AIDS Memorial Quilt” will be on display in the University of Central Arkansas’ Reynolds Performance Hall lobby from Oct. 6-31.
“The AIDS Memorial Quilt”
As part of the exhibition, two 12’x12’ blocks honoring Arkansans lost to AIDS will be on view. The College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences will host an opening reception and remembrance tribute at the performance hall on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 1:40 p.m., featuring a poetry reading by Hot Springs Poet Laureate Kai Coggin and the unveiling of a new quilt panel by fashion designer Korto Momolu, both of whom are artists in residence.
The memorial project began in San Francisco in 1987 with a single handmade panel, and today has grown into a 54-ton tapestry comprising more than 50,000 individual panels – each measuring 3’x6’, the size of a standard coffin. Created by hundreds of thousands of friends, family members and loved ones, “The Quilt” stands as the largest ongoing community art project in the world. Each panel is a personal tribute, commemorating more than 110,000 individuals who have died from AIDS.
“CAHSS is honored to host two blocks of ‘The Aids Memorial Quilt’ as part of the Artists in Residence program this year,” Dr. Paige Rose, a professor of music education and associate dean for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, said. “Each quilt block has eight panels representing people who have passed away, and the two we have this year contain the names and memories of several Arkansans.
“While ‘The Quilt’ in its entirety is too massive to display all at once, the 16 panels that will be on view have historic significance. We want to keep ‘The Quilt’ and its history alive for everyone, especially this generation of college students, many of whom have not heard of it. CAHSS will pay tribute to the entire ‘Quilt’ and the lives it represents with a ceremony that includes curated poetry, guest speakers and presentations; however, the real contribution will be the creation and unveiling of a new panel by Artist in Residence Korto Momolu. The former ‘Project Runway’ star will produce this permanent addition to ‘The AIDS Memorial Quilt’ display. We hope everyone can come to the ceremony or see this living history on view at Reynolds Performance Hall in October.”
Additional information about the exhibition is available by contacting Rose at prose@uca.edu.
The UCA Artists in Residence program is funded by the Fine and Performing Arts Fee paid by all students, with additional support from Engage Management and Pyramid Art, Books, and Custom Framing. More information about the Artists in Residence program is available at uca.edu/go/artistsinresidence or by contacting Dr. Gayle Seymour, associate dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at gayles@uca.edu.