As the New York City AIDS Memorial Park at St. Vincent’s Triangle nears completion, supporters of the project celebrated with a reception at Barneys New York. A public dedication for the memorial is scheduled for World AIDS Day, December 1, according to a press release from the memorial.

The memorial is located in a Greenwich Village park across from what used to be St. Vincent’s Hospital, the ground zero of the AIDS crisis in the early years of the epidemic.

The memorial’s board of directors and Barneys New York hosted the reception, which included the memorial’s cofounders, Christopher Tepper and Paul Kelterborn, and visual artist Jenny Holzer, who designed a section of the memorial made of granite engraved with selections from Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.”  

Also at the reception was the unveiling of a limited-edition print by Kobi Benezri to honor the memorial. You can view and purchase it here. Proceeds go to the memorial’s educational programs.

“We are grateful to the many supporters and donors who helped to make the New York City AIDS Memorial Park at St. Vincent’s Triangle a reality,” said Keith Fox, president of the memorial’s board of directors, in the press release. “Through their generosity, we have raised more than $6 million over five years for the design, construction and maintenance of the Memorial, as well as educational programs.”

To read more about Jenny Holzer’s memorial design and view renderings of the completed memorial, read the POZ blog post “Love Ya, Walt Whitman, But Does ‘Leaves of Grass’ Belong on an AIDS Memorial?” and visit nycaidsmemorial.org.

From left: Keith Fox, president of the New York City AIDS Memorial’s board of directors, with memorial cofounders Christopher Tepper and Paul Keiterborn at a reception at Barneys New York to celebrate the monument’s near completion.Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com

Artist Jenny Holzer, who designed part of The New York City AIDS Memorial, with Keith Fox, president of the memorial’s board of directors, at a reception at Barneys New York to celebrate the imminent completion of the memorial.Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com

A sample of the memorial’s official branding.