Dear Monument Family:

This is a proud moment for all of us at the Foundation for The AIDS Monument.  Fifteen years after Craig Dougherty first conceived of an AIDS monument in West Hollywood, STORIES: The AIDS Monument opened to the public on Sunday, November 16, 2025.  As an “atmospheric river” moved into the region during a month when rain is typically unexpected, we scrambled to move the event indoors at the Silver Screen theater of the Pacific Design Center.  Fortunately, we were able to accommodate all who showed up, and the indoor location created an intimacy that we might not have experienced in the outdoor plaza.

Approximately 450 guests gathered in the theater, the theater lobby and a nearby remote viewing area to watch a program of approximately 90 minutes featuring songs and stories from the following members of our community:

Approximately 200 people stood amidst the tall bronze Traces, illuminated like a candlelight vigil, to hear stories of loss and survival from members of the APLA Health Writers Group, a group founded in 1989.  The program of stories was curated by former West Hollywood Poet Laureate Brian Sonia-Wallace. After the storytelling program, local members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence gave a short blessing for the Monument.  Following welcome remarks from me, the West Hollywood Mayor and City Council spoke about the importance of World AIDS Day, fighting for federal funding and demanding federal leadership on AIDS.  You can watch a short video recap of the event here.

ONE INSTITUTE TO TAKE OVER EVENTS & PROGRAMMING FOR THE MONUMENT

Starting January 1, 2026, ONE Institute will take over responsibility for events and programs for STORIES: The AIDS Monument, in partnership with the City of West Hollywood.

Such events and programs will include monthly docent tours starting next year, as well as art installations and special events during Pride, LGBTQ+ History Month, World AIDS Day and selected HIV/AIDS awareness days.  ONE Institute plans to partner with existing AIDS and LGBTQ+ organizations on many of these events and programs.

For many years, FAM has been a small Board-run non-profit with only a part-time administrative assistant.  Our Board felt that it was important to find an organization with the infrastructure and proven track record to produce quality events and programs at the Monument.  Our Board didn’t have the capacity to do this, and many of our Board members have been working hard for 10-15 years to make the Monument a reality. Frankly, some of us needed a break.  Rather than having to raise money to hire an executive director and staff, we thought it would be a more efficient use of funds and effort to find an existing organization that aligned with our mission for the Monument.  We decided unanimously, with the support of the City of West Hollywood, that the ONE Institute, led by FAM’s former Executive Director Tony Valenzuela, was ideal for that purpose.

Two of our current Board members, Dr. David Hardy and Rogerio Carvalheiro, have become members of the One Institute Board.  ONE Institute will establish an AIDS Monument subcommittee so that other FAM Board members may continue to participate in Monument-related planning if they wish.

ONE Institute is the nation’s oldest continuously operating LGBTQ+ organization.  With ONE Institute’s long history of public programs about LGBTQ+ life and HIV/AIDS history, most recently their exhibition on the history of ACT UP LA during their impressive annual Circa festival, we are confident that they will be ideal stewards for the Monument’s mission to REMEMBER, CELEBRATE & EDUCATE not only for the LGBTQ+ community but also for all impacted by and at risk of getting HIV/AIDS.

STORYTELLING UPDATES

We encourage you visit our website www.aidsmonument.org and our social media (@theaidsmonument) on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook to hear these stories and watch these videos, and all the others we’ve collected:

HEAR Our STORIES

We now have 128 audio stories posted on our website.  Since our last newsletter, we posted 3 new ones:

• Alexandra Billing’s personal story about her struggles and survival

• Ash Kotak’s tribute to TV journalist and filmmaker Joseph Lovett

• Tom Viola honors Colleen Dewhurst and the history of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

Social Media

We posted 15 videos on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook:

• Videos celebrating the opening of the Monument from Joe Hollendoner, Terri Ford, Ruth Tittle, Sherri Lewis, Dr. Carl Highshaw, Richard Ayoub, CA Assembly Member Rick Zbur, Hon. John Duran, West Hollywood City Council members John Erickson & Danny Hang, Dr. Michael Gottlieb and Mark S. King

• Oscar, Emmy and Tony-winner Ellen Burstyn remembers her dear friend, artist Steven Arnold

• Chelsea Gym founder Norman Rathweg, an appreciation by Ken Gault

• Richard Gere celebrates his friend, renowned photographer and director Herb Ritts

• Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey pays tribute to Ron Woodroof

• Ryan Michael Painter remembers his father Robert Michael Painter

• Former Mayor of West Hollywood John Duran tells the story of Life AIDS Lobby

• Emmy-winner Eric McCormack on Brady Bunch father Robert Reed

• Emmy-winner Bruce Vilanch honors mega-hit songwriter and actor Paul Jabara

• Raymond Black tells about caring for baby Aaron who died of AIDS at 18 months

A REDESIGNED WEBSITE

We updated our website to include photos of the completed Monument and redesigned our homepage to feature the following new audio features, all of which can be accessed using a QR code when visiting the Monument.  You can click on the links below to hear them:

• A Welcome from The City of West Hollywood and FAM, featuring West Hollywood Mayor Chelsea Byers, Vice Mayor John Heilman, and FAM Board Chair Irwin Rappaport;

• A Design Tour of the Monument, narrated by FAM Board Member Rogerio Carvalheiro who is an architect, UCLA instructor and chair of FAM’s Design Committee; and

• A Brief History of HIV/AIDS which gives listeners an overview of the disease and its impact on our nation so that those unfamiliar with HIV/AIDS can understand what we went through and the challenges that remain.  Those interested in learning more can listen to additional chapters on Science & Medicine; Law & Policy; Activism & Organizing; and Culture & Society.  The history was written and produced by FAM Board Chair Irwin Rappaport with consulting from Dr. David Hardy, Stephen Simon, David Gere, Stephen Bennett, and Phill Wilson.  The recordings were edited by David Neuendorff.

We’ve assembled a tour-de-force group of activists, celebrities, caregivers, community leaders, elected officials, and long-term survivors who have narrated this important history, and we are so grateful for their generosity in donating their time:

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MISSION WITH A DONATION

As we close out the year and celebrate the opening of the Monument, we hope you will support programming and events at the Monument by making a tax-deductible donation.  Your contribution will allow us to make the Monument a place for the community and visitors to gather for inspiration, education, memories and activism.

Donations can be made at our website or by mailing a check, payable to “Foundation for The AIDS Monument,” to 1049 Havenhurst Dr. #133, West Hollywood, CA 90046.

12 YEARS OF FAM & A BITTERSWEET GOODBYE

On a personal note, I am so gratified to have served on the FAM Board for 12 years and led this organization as its Board Chair over the past 5 years.  It was an honor to meet and work with so many courageous storytellers, activists, community leaders and caregivers, and the dedicated City of West Hollywood elected officials and staff.

FAM’s Board was a group of volunteers that, for 8 of the 12 years since FAM’s incorporation, operated without an executive director and with a part-time administrative assistant (Karen Eyres was our outstanding assistant for the past 5 years).  We raised our goal of $5 million thanks to leadership of former Board Chair Mark Lehman, fundraising consultant John Gile, Development Committee Chair Jorge Mellado and the generosity of approximately 1,500 donors.

Spearheaded by Design Committee Chair Rogerio Carvalheiro, we conducted a curated design competition which led to the selection of Dan Tobin’s elegant design.  Rogerio Carvalheiro, Mark Lehman, Craig Dougherty and I worked in partnership with the City of West Hollywood to oversee construction.  For our website, I produced the Hear Our STORIES collection of oral histories, I wrote and produced the Brief History of HIV/AIDS, and Craig Dougherty and Karen Eyres built a comprehensive timeline.

We held a dozen community storytelling events, called STORIES Circles, all over Los Angeles in partnership with AIDS services organizations and other community groups.  We accomplished our mission to REMEMBER, CELEBRATE & EDUCATE, but the mission continues.

I’m very pleased to be able to leave Monument programming and events in the capable hands of the ONE Institute so that they can continue to fulfill that mission and make use of the Monument as a place for storytelling.  Now that we have a landmark location in the heart of West Hollywood, our stories won’t be forgotten, our history will be preserved, and we can gather in remembrance, in solidarity, and as advocates for equitably available prevention and a vaccine.

I look forward to seeing you at the Monument!

In gratitude,