“Every experience deeply felt in life needs to be passed along — whether it be through words and music, chiseled in stone, painted with a brush, or sewn with a needle. It is a way of reaching immortality.” – Thomas Jefferson

In 2012, the AIDS Memorial Quilt turns 25 years old, and the International AIDS Conference in July will provide a plat­form to display the full Quilt in Washington for the first time in 16 years. From July 21-25, 2012, the National Building Museum will join a select group of venues in the Capital Region in presenting the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The expansive­ness of our climate-controlled Great Hall provides an opportunity to replicate the experience of walking among the Quilt panels on the Mall in a spectacular indoor setting. Panels will be laid out on the floor of all three courts of the Great Hall and visitors will walk among them, just as they do on the Mall. The Museum also provides the distinctive opportunity to view the Quilt from above, as visitors will be able to look down from the balconies surrounding the Great Hall.

The Museum’s presentation of the Quilt will be one of the largest installations off the Mall, and will include 500 panels many of which will pay specific tribute to designers, architects, engineers, and others connected to the building industry who have lost their lives to AIDS. It will also commemorate veterans who have died from AIDS, speaking to the historic nature of our Museum home, which was originally constructed to house the Bureau of Pensions, and in this capacity served over 2.7 million veterans of the Mexican-American and Civil Wars.

Find more summer programs.

While the panels are on site, Quilt Docents will be at the Museum to answer questions and enrich the experience of visitors.

To learn more about how you can support this extraordinary undertaking, please contact Sophia Greenbaum, Corporate and Association Relations Manager, at 202-272-2448.

The National Building Museum is honored to present sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in conjunction with Quilt in the Capital 2012 and in partnership with The NAMES Project Foundation.

Support for Quilt in the Capital 2012 at the National Building Museum is provided by Mr. Todd C. DeGarmo, FAIA, Sheila C. Johnson, and McGraw-Hill Construction.