Oakland International Airport (OAK) this week announced the last of three displays from the National AIDS Memorial is now in Terminal 2, providing airport visitors with interesting and engaging information about the AIDS Memorial Quilt, created 35 years ago, to honor and remember lives lost to HIV/AIDS.
The quilt’s 50,000 individually sewn panels contain more than 110,000 names stitched into its 54 tons of fabric, stored at a facility located near OAK. The quilt is a powerful teaching tool, with sections being shipped to hundreds of communities throughout the country each year to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and the issues of health and social justice.
The three Terminal 2 displays share interesting stories, special mementos, photographs, and quilt panels, inviting visitors to learn more about quilt programs, including how to make a panel, volunteer and host the quilt in their community. Currently, one 12-foot-by-12-foot section of the quilt is hanging in the Terminal 2 baggage claim area and is accessible to the general public. The other two displays are located in two mounted window boxes that are located past security in the Bayview Corridor in Terminal 2.
“This year, Oakland International Airport is proud to partner with the National AIDS Memorial with these special in-terminal displays,” says Bryant Francis, director of aviation at the Port of Oakland, which oversees OAK. “We hope that our passengers are as moved as we are by the cause and the Memorial’s hard work to preserve the memories of those lost to HIV/AIDS across the globe.”
