Planning of the AIDS Memorial Pathway (AMP) officially began in 2016, but its catalyst came far before in the 80s and 90s when protests broke out in Seattle during the height of the AIDS epidemic. During his last term, Seattle City Councilman Tom Rasmussen, reflecting on that time and its impact on the community, raised the idea to use public funding to create an AIDS Memorial. It would provide a physical public space for people to reflect and connect with their community. To prepare the 2.8-million-dollar project, MOHAI was enlisted to conduct a planning study involving community members, artists, and other professionals. Cal Anderson Park, in the heart of Capitol Hill and neighboring the Light Rail Capitol Hill Station, was selected as the installation location.
The AMP’s Celebration
Four installations were planned, and Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture oversaw the selection of commissioned artists for the four pieces:
Horatio Hung-Yan Law, a public art and installation artist from Portland, created the AMP’s Master Art Plan, and Rosette Royale, an award-winning writer, began collecting stories surrounding the AIDS epidemic and the effects it had on the LGBTQI+ community.
“We’re Already Here” by Civilization
Christopher Paul Jordan, Civilization (a design practice), Horatio Hung-Yan Law, and Storme Webber were commissioned to create the four installations, and the public funding was allocated covered half of the AMP’s budget.
The AMP is scheduled to be completed in 2021.
If you want to read more, follow the links below:
Schemata Workshop and The Berger Partnership helped the AMP founders envision the potential memorial through several community workshops. The resulting documentation helped inform the art master plan. Both firms were involved in the artist selection process.
Seattle Times articles:
Seattle’s AIDS Memorial Pathway becomes one of few memorials honoring those lost to the epidemic
Artists tell the stories behind 4 art installations that will anchor Seattle’s AIDS Memorial Pathway