Dear Friends of FAM:
I’m thrilled to announce that the fabrication process for the Monument has begun!
Please see below for more details on this exciting development and read about what else we’ve been up to since the end of last year.
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MONUMENT CONSTRUCTION PROCESS UPDATE
The City of West Hollywood (“City”) has selected a fabricator to produce the tall bronze “Traces” that are a major feature of the Monument.
American Fine Arts, Inc. (“AFA”), based in Burbank, was the winning bidder and is currently producing a full-size Trace for approval by artist Dan Tobin, FAM and the City’s design team, prior to fabricating the entire Trace field of nearly 150 Traces.
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AFA has almost 45 years of experience and has worked with contemporary artists of many styles including KAWS, Kai, Richard MacDonald, Bill Mack, as well as historians desiring to conserve sculptures by Leonardo da Vinci, Degas, Botero, Dali, Erte, and many more. Brand-name designers Jonathan Adler, Jonathan Browning, and the team at Blackman Cruz rely on AFA to produce sculpture, décor, and lighting elements. AFA also produces many awards for the entertainment industry, including the SAG Award (30 years), the Writer’s Guild Award, Spirit Award, Costume Designer’s Guild award, and many more.
We are excited to work with AFA and to have found a fabricator so close to home, allowing us to monitor and document the fabrication process, with the added benefit of engaging a local business and its artisans.
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The City has completed construction and bid documents to secure a contract with a General Contractor. Bids from prospective general contractors are due April 17. Once received, the City will review the bids to select the General Contractor who will hire and supervise all the sub-contractors (fabricator AFA, as well as the lighting contractor and the stone contractor).
We still are aiming for the Monument to be completed by mid-2025, matching the anticipated schedule for completion in prior updates.
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STORYTELLING UPDATES
Since our last update, FAM has gathered 11 additional stories which are housed on our website and will be available to visitors of the Monument. We are planning two STORIES Circles for May and June, and we hope to confirm a third one for the second quarter.
HEAR Our STORIES update. We have received 11 new stories, eight of which are up on our website, and three of which are being edited and will be posted soon:
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- Sex and the City actor and comedian Mario Cantone (pictured, inset) recounts the story of Wayland Flowers, the creator of the sassy puppet “Madame” (pictured);
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- Karleigh Webb (pictured, inset), a Black trans journalist, tells the story of NASCAR driver Tim Richmond (pictured). Tim was the inspiration for Tom Cruise’s character in Days of Thunder (a version of this story first appeared on The AIDS Memorial on Instagram);
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- Jackie Beat (pictured, inset) remembers off-Broadway actor and drag legend Charles Ludlam (pictured);
- Rufus Wainwright honors his friend Lance Loud, the first reality TV star whose family was the subject of the groundbreaking PBS reality show An American Family;
- John Duran tells the story of LIFE AIDS Lobby, which he co-chaired during the height of the epidemic;
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- Mark S. King (pictured, inset) fondly remembers Daniel Warner (pictured), the late Executive Director of the L.A. Shanti Foundation;
- Sean Strub tells the story of founding and publishing POZ Magazine;
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- David Bohnett (pictured at left with his late partner, Rand Schrader) pays tribute to Rand, an openly gay Municipal Court judge who served as Chair of the Los Angeles County AIDS Commission in the 1980s;
- Hank Stratton’s recording about Gaëtan Dugas, the Canadian flight attendant mistakenly identified as Patient Zero;
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- Openly lesbian Air Force Lt. Gen. Leah Lauderback pays tribute to Bronze Star & Purple Heart recipient Leonard Matlovich, who successfully sued the Air Force after he was discharged for being gay (a version of this story first appeared on The AIDS Memorial on Instagram); and
- Andrea de Lange tells the story of her successful legal challenge to the LA Police Commission’s prohibition on HIV+ massage therapists;
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Social Media update. We posted six (6) new videos on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook:
- Recording by Judd Hirsch (pictured, inset) about the first infant who died of AIDS in New York City and was buried on Hart Island (a version of this story first appeared on The AIDS Memorial on Instagram);
- Kathryn Hirsch’s recording about Morgan McDonald, who was dumped outside a San Francisco AIDS charity by a Florida hospital;
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- In honor of Trans Day of Visibility, Maria Roman (pictured) talks about how most programs and services for the Trans community have their roots in HIV prevention; and
- The story of Gaëtan Dugas, who was mis-identified as Patient Zero, as told by former FAM Board member Hank Stratton.
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STORIES Circles update. We are in the midst of planning two events. The featured speakers are to be determined, so we will send out announcements once we have more details:
- An Inter-Generational STORIES Circle, in partnership with the Los Angeles LGBT Center, will bring together young people 18-25 years old and older people (40+ years of age). This event will take place Wednesday, June 5 at the LGBT Center from 4:00-5:30 p.m.
- In partnership with APAIT, a STORIES Circle for APAIT’s multi-ethnic clients and others from diverse and at-risk communities. This event will take place on Saturday, May 18 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Tropico de Nopal Art Gallery.
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Thanks again for supporting STORIES: The AIDS Monument — we couldn’t do it without you!
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Scenes
from recent STORIES Circle events
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