The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, often abbreviated to AIDS Memorial Quilt or AIDS Quilt, was an enormous memorial to celebrate the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece of community folk art in the world as of 2020. The NAMES Project was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
Today, the Carver community is putting forth an interactive digital quilt of a kind we are calling the Courage Mosaic. Our digital community folk art project honors both those enduring this pandemic and those we have lost.
Read the entire article about the 7th grader's COVID QUILT here.
The COVID QUILT began in response to a school requirement at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California, for 7th graders to engage in community service in the spirit of giving back. Although the idea of the Covid Quilt began as a school requirement, Madeleine’s ambitious idea of healing does not end there. Outreach has begun across the country and in the world to include all those who wish to be included.
A MESSAGE FROM MADELEINE
"They aren't just numbers. They are people who died." -Madeleine Fugate
Hi.
I'm Madeleine. I'm a 13 year old girl. I live in California and I think it's very sad what is happening to the world with this virus.
When you watch the news, it's just about the numbers and how they keep going up. They have gotten so big that we don't think of those numbers as people anymore and I want to change that.
They aren't just numbers. They are people who died and they deserve to be remembered.
That person could've been funny or kind or shy or smart. They might have had a dog or a cat or even a bird. They had families and friends. They were loved. They were alive. They should not be forgotten.
Every night we hear stories about people dying alone in hospitals without their families or friends to hold their hand and say goodbye. People are having funerals on Zoom. It's all sad. It breaks my heart.
My mom worked on the AIDS Memorial Quilt and she told me how healing and almost magical it was at the time. She lost people she loved and no one was honoring them. That was 35 years ago, and now people are dying again from another virus and we are in pain again.
My school requires 7th graders to engage in a Community Action Project or CAP to give back to our community. The theme of this year's CAP is "Young Changemakers in a COVID-19 World."
I have always had a passion for quilting and sewing. So I thought, we can make a COVID QUILT to honor this generation of people who have died and to heal all of us left behind.
I asked Michael Bongiorni, the Interim Director of Quilt Operations of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, for his advice. He told me: "Quilts show people we care. The tradition of a memorial quilt is very American. It shows compassion and remembrance and it's a way we can all join together to show love." Michael also gave me a great tip about adding canvas borders to the quilt panels to make them easier to hang and display.
If you have personally lost someone or want to honor someone in your community, please send me an 8" x 8" square. I will post updates of the quilt as it is getting made. Two local quilting clubs have already offered to help me sew as well as friends and family.
I am making the Covid Quilt for all of us so we can remember every person we loved who has died. I want to help people heal. I hope you will help me spread the word.
Thank you,
Love, Madeleine.
Click here to go to Carver’s COURAGE MOSAIC