Welcome
The Palm Springs AIDS Memorial
Following the Listening Sessions, the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial Task Force and their artist, Phillip K. Smith III, have been working on a new design for the Memorial. This online presentation shares the new design with our entire community. Please swipe up, down, left or right to navigate this presentation.
At the end, you’ll find an opportunity to comment, learn about details, and be connected to FAQ’s, and the donation portal.
At the end, you’ll find an opportunity to comment, learn about details, and be connected to FAQ’s, and the donation portal.
Copyright © 2024 Phillip K. Smith III. All Right Reserved.
Location
The Palm Springs AIDS Memorial will be located in the Downtown Park.
The public location of the Memorial ensures that its messaging will be seen and experienced by many. Additionally, this is a safe environment, lit 24 hours a day, and with a police substation just 100’ away.
One of the benefits of the Downtown Park location is that it is adjacent to a larger, flat, open area in the oasis that can easily handle public gatherings of 200+ people.
The Memorial creates a distinct space for remembrance and reflection, defined by the two entries, two benches, and 20’ diameter ground plane. With the Memorial object shifting to a more vertical orientation that lifts upward to the sky, the new design provides space for seating and movement in and around the Memorial. Additionally, each entry clearly defines that this is the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial.
One of the benefits of the Downtown Park location is that it is adjacent to a larger, flat, open area in the oasis that can easily handle public gatherings of 200+ people.
The Memorial creates a distinct space for remembrance and reflection, defined by the two entries, two benches, and 20’ diameter ground plane. With the Memorial object shifting to a more vertical orientation that lifts upward to the sky, the new design provides space for seating and movement in and around the Memorial. Additionally, each entry clearly defines that this is the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial.
The Memorial creates a distinct space for remembrance and reflection, defined by the two entries, two benches, and 20’ diameter ground plane. With the Memorial object shifting to a more vertical orientation that lifts upward to the sky, the new design provides space for seating and movement in and around the Memorial. Additionally, each entry clearly defines that this is the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial.
The Memorial's Core Concepts
The new Palm Springs AIDS Memorial is a well of love in the desert. It is a gathering place for love, in much the same way that Palm Springs was a gathering place for those with HIV/AIDS early in the pandemic. People came to Palm Springs because they knew that they would be cared for and supported, which is to say, they knew that they would be loved here.
Love can be expressed through a tear – in both sorrow and joy. A tear shed for the loss of a loved one. And a tear shed for the joyful memory of a loved one.
Love can be expressed through a tear – in both sorrow and joy. A tear shed for the loss of a loved one. And a tear shed for the joyful memory of a loved one.
And so, the Well of Love, our memorial, shares three simple messages: Forever Remembered, Forever Loved, and Forever Celebrated. Each vertical face holds an oval pool of tears unique to its message.
Forever Remembered.
Forever Remembered has a single drop sending ripples outward, representing the memory of each unique individual taken from us.
Forever Loved.
Forever Loved has multiple drops, all merging together and represents the community of caregivers, including loved ones, friends, family, medical staff, organizations, local businesses, and so many more.
Forever Celebrated.
Forever Celebrated presents only the ripple effects from many, many drops coming together to create a rippled surface that represents the lasting effect of the lives we celebrate through this memorial. They have forever affected our lives, our memories, and our community.
Forever Remembered.
Forever Loved.
Forever Celebrated.
The Well of Love is a well that provides an emotional life source. It is a well where tears are deposited, and tears are withdrawn – both in happiness and in grief. It is a touchstone in our community to never forget the lives of those lost to HIV/AIDS and to celebrate the ever-present, extensive, loving community of support that is unique to Palm Springs.
Approaching each of the three “pools of tears”, visitors will see themselves reflected in the Memorial along with the surrounding desert landscaping and changing desert sky. Yourself and the beauty of the surroundings will be collaged across the ripples of each Memorial face. By seeing yourself in the Memorial, your own stories, memories, and emotions are added to the collective pool of grief, loss, hope, and joy.
At each of the two entries there is a QR Code bronze plaque located on the adjacent bench. This QR code will take visitors to the online experience, which will provide deeper engagement with the physical Memorial. By shifting text explanations and additional support materials online, this portion of the Memorial can be updated, edited, and added to, thus allowing the physical Memorial to be a timeless, unchanging experience.
The Task Force intends for a more robust, poetic experience online that can provide potential elements such as explanations of the Memorial concepts, audio stories of people’s experiences in Palm Springs at the height of the epidemic, the ability to record your own story, educational information about HIV/AIDS, and so much more. This portion of the project will be more fully developed in parallel with the Memorial’s fabrication schedule and will be completed at the same time as the physical Memorial.
The scale of the Memorial
The scale of the original design was 9’ in diameter. The new design is about 11’-0” tall. The Memorial seeks to balance its impressive scale with a distinctly human scale. In addition, each of the oval faces angles out at 7 degrees. The feeling is that the Memorial is reaching out to you, creating a more intimate space for reflection and remembrance.
The importance of materials
The main structure will be carved from a warm toned stone. Each face will be about 2” thick cast glass with a first-surface mirror laminated at the back. The ripples will be three-dimensional and tactile extending outward from each face. The ground plane and benches will be pre-cast concrete with integrated bronze lettering and skate stops.
The Memorial will be a dynamic touchstone in our community, activated by those that enter its space and animated by the movement of the desert sun.
Shifting from the day into the night, the Memorial will be lit by three in-grade uplights casting raking light across the dimensional water ripples of the three different glass faces. Existing landscape and site lighting surrounding the Memorial will provide additional overall lighting. In particular, the uplighting on the two adjacent Mesquite trees to the East and West will provide a beautiful, lit canopy at night, as well as an ever growing shade canopy of dappled light during the day.
The success of the Listening Sessions
This new Memorial design would not have been possible without the community’s generous sharing of excellent ideas, raw emotions, and intimate memories via the Listening Sessions and Town Hall. We hope you feel that your voice has been heard and that no matter what, we can all agree and support the intent of this Memorial: To ensure the lives of those lost to HIV/AIDS are never forgotten.
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Project Costs and Financial Support
As this design is a more involved, community-driven Memorial, the costs are more than the original design and are expected to be $1-1.2 million. We have raised approximately $540,000 to date and need your support to make the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial a reality. If you are moved by what you’ve seen and want to donate, please click below.
Support the MemorialProject Timeline
The project will be presented to the Palm Springs Public Art Commission on October 1st at 5:30pm and to the Palm Springs City Council on November 14th at 5:30pm. Public comment will be available for both meetings.
If approvals are acquired at these meetings and fundraising goals met, we will start fabrication of the Memorial early in 2025 and expect to have the Memorial installed and completed on-site by late 2025/early 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have more questions about the Memorial, please click here to be directed to the FAQ section of the Memorial website.