West Hollywood will unveil this beautiful AIDS Monument in November

In a few weeks’ time, West Hollywood finally receives its own AIDS monument.

‘STORIES: The AIDS Monument’ sits on the edge of West Hollywood Park. It’s set to open on Sunday, November 16, just before this year’s World AIDS Day (December 1).

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According to a social media posting, the free launch event will take place 4-5.15 p.m. in the courtyard of the Pacific Design Center, located on N. San Vicente Blvd., with an after-party to follow at The Abbey (5.45-7.15pm).

The initiative is a collaboration between the City of West Hollywood and the Foundation for the AIDS Monument (FAM). The project’s aim is to memorialize the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS and honor activists, caregivers, community leaders and lives lost.

Designed by artist Daniel Tobin, the AIDS Monument will feature a plaza, a donor wall, vertical bronze “traces” with text integrated lighting reminiscent of a candlelight vigil, and a podium facing N. San Vicente Boulevard.

Background

Plans for the monument date back to 2012. Several years of community engagement followed before authorities received an initial design bid in 2020. That underwent revisions to finalise the eventual design. The city council approved that design in spring 2024 and construction began in August last year.

West Hollywood has enjoyed a large gay population for decades. When AIDS arrived in the early 1980s, its impact on the community was devastating.

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The City of West Hollywood was one of the first government entities to provide social services grants to local AIDS and HIV organizations. It also sponsored one of the first AIDS awareness campaigns in the country in October 1985.

It continues to fund the battle against HIV and raise awareness about the virus. The City wants to become an “HIV Zero” city and is currently implementing its HIV Zero Initiative to achieve this goal.

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The new West Hollywood memorial grows a number of similar memorials around the US. This includes the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco, the New York City AIDS Memorial in Greenwich Village, NYC, and Key West AIDS Memorial.

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