PULLMAN – Steve Davidson was a loving husband and father of three sons, with an easy-going personality and a quiet yet kind nature.
He grew up in a small town along with an identical, twin brother and older sister where his father was a minister. He passed away three months after he was diagnosed with AIDS.
In honor of Davidson’s life his sister, Cindy Paulson, and a friend created a panel for the AIDS Memorial Quilt. A resident of Pullman, Cindy decorated Davidson’s panel with three poems describing her relationship with her brother, her friend and her hero.
Community members will have the opportunity to see the AIDS Memorial Quilt Dec. 3-7 at WSU Ensminger Pavilion from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Cougar Health Awareness Team, in conjunction with Health and Wellness Services, and cosponsored by the CUB Gallery on the Move, is hosting a display of 160 panels, making it the largest WSU presentation of the quilt since 1997.
A number of student organizations and community groups have joined with the sponsors to generate events complimentary to the display, such as a candlelight vigil, HIV/AIDS testing, documentary showings and live testimonials from two HIV positive women with The BABES Network. All events are free and open to the public.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt began with just one 3’x 6′ panel created in 1987 in San Francisco. Today this Nobel Prize nominated art project is composed of more than 47,000 panels memorializing the lives of more than 90,000 individuals fallen victim to AIDS. Weighing over 54 tons in its entirety, the quilt is a visual masterpiece depicting the humanity behind the debilitating statistics; each panel is designed and sewn uniquely by people like Paulson who were touched by the AIDS virus in some way.
Since its creation in 1987, the NAMES Project Foundation’s purpose has been to use the AIDS Memorial Quilt to educate and generate HIV/AIDS awareness throughout the world. The quilt has served in teaching compassion and facilitating triumphs over taboos, presenting the destruction caused by AIDS and inspiring individuals to battle this disease without a cure by taking responsibility for their own actions.
For more information about the WSU presentation of The AIDS Memorial Quilt and its related activities and updates, visit the Web site at: http://www.hws.wsu.edu/ or contact Cathy Bergley at cbergley@wsu.edu.
