New York City's AIDS Memorial Park Campaign Gains Momentum Through Participation from Entertainment, Business & Political Leaders

NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Just two weeks after the launch of a design competition for New York City's proposed AIDS Memorial Park (http://www.AIDSMemorialPark.org), the project's coalition has earned support from several notable entertainment, business, cultural and political leaders.  The AIDS Memorial Park Coalition is dedicated to the recognition and preservation of the ongoing history of the AIDS crisis through the creation of a memorial park to honor New York City's 100,000+ men, women and children who have died from AIDS, and to commemorate and celebrate the efforts of the caregivers and activists who responded heroically to the crisis.

Fashion designer Kenneth Cole, Academy Award-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg, and Thelma Golden, Director & Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, have joined the jury for the coalition's design competition.  Cole and Goldberg are notable for their activism and dedication to causes related to HIV and AIDS; Golden is a leading authority on the relationship between art and cultural change.  Also joining the jury is Brad Hoylman, Chair of Manhattan Community Board #2, which represents community interests on issues such as development and planning, land use, and zoning in the project's proposed location, New York City's West Village.  "I'm honored to be part of this amazing committee," said Goldberg.  

Actress and author Julianne Moore and Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon have joined as supporters of the AIDS Memorial Park Coalition along with Jonathan Adler, Designer; Simon Doonan, Creative Ambassador-at-Large, Barneys New York; John Cameron Mitchell, Writer, Actor & Director; and Todd Stephens, Director.  Stephens will direct a video series of personal reflections on the AIDS crisis, featuring coalition board members and jurors.  Mitchell, Moore, Sarandon and Stephens are all Village residents.

"As a longtime supporter of those living with HIV/AIDS, I support the coalition's efforts to create AIDS Memorial Park in New York City.  It's time for us to preserve this historically significant location with a living memorial that connects current and future generations.  Also, as a downtown resident and as a mother, I believe the park will be an inspirational, educational and green public oasis – something we all need more of in the city," said Sarandon. 

The AIDS Memorial Park Design Competition is accepting entries through midnight on January 21, 2012 via the Architizer website at http://www.architizer.com/en_us/competitions/nyc-aids-memorial-park-design-competition/.  Winners of the competition will be announced on February 1, 2012, with one winner receiving $5,000 and one runner-up receiving $2,000.  The coalition aims for completion of the park by World AIDS Day on December 1, 2014.

Michael Arad, Designer of The National September 11 Memorial, is chair of the design competition's jury, whose current members include Kurt Andersen, Novelist & Journalist; Barry Bergdoll, Professor of Architectural History at Columbia University and Chief Curator of Architecture & Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; Kenneth Cole, Fashion Designer; Elizabeth Diller, Professor of Architecture at Princeton University and Founding Partner, Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Whoopi Goldberg, Actress & Comedian; Thelma Golden, Director & Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem; Robert Hammond, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Friends of the High Line; Brad Hoylman, Chair of Manhattan Community Board #2; Bill T. Jones, Artistic Director, Choreographer, & Dancer; Richard Meier, Managing Partner, Richard Meier & Partners Architects; Ken Smith, Landscape Architect; and Suzanne Stephens, Deputy Editor, Architectural Record.  Architectural Record and Architizer are the design contest's media sponsors.

To enter the competition or learn more, visit http://www.architizer.com/en_us/competitions/nyc-aids-memorial-park-design-competition/.  For more information about AIDS Memorial Park, visit http://www.AIDSMemorialPark.org.  The coalition is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AIDSMemorialPark and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AIDSMemPark.

About AIDS Memorial Park: AIDS Memorial Park was founded in 2011 by urban planners Christopher Tepper (30) and Paul Kelterborn (33), whose generation has never known a world without AIDS.  This coalition of individuals and organizations is dedicated to the recognition and preservation of the ongoing history of the AIDS crisis.  The coalition's goal is to produce a design for a memorial park in honor of New York City's 100,000+ men, women and children who have died from AIDS, and to commemorate and celebrate the efforts of the caregivers and activists who responded heroically to the crisis. For more information, visit http://www.AIDSMemorialPark.org, find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AIDSMemorialPark or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AIDSMemPark.

SOURCE AIDS Memorial Park