Telephone wire basket with AIDS ribbon, Durban South Africa.

On December 1, Michigan State University Museum joins thousands of individuals and educational, health, and cultural organizations around the world to mark World AIDS Day. In observance of the day, the MSU Museum, in association with the Lansing Area AIDS Network, will display a 12' quilt block from the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Founded in 1987, The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt is a poignant memorial, a powerful tool for use in preventing new HIV infections, and the largest ongoing community arts project. Each "block" of The AIDS Memorial Quilt consists of eight individual 3' by 6' panels sewn together. Virtually every one of the more than 40,000 colorful panels that make up the Quilt memorializes the life of a person lost to AIDS.

Beaded vignette with nurse attending HIV positive woman in childbirth. Made by Celani McHunu, Durban, South Africa

For more on the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, see: http://www.aidsquilt.org/index.htm For information on World AIDS Day: http://www.worldaidsday.org/ and http://www.netglimse.com/holidays/world_aids_day/index.shtml.

The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial quilt panel will be on view in the MSU Museum's Heritage Gallery on December 1 - 7, 2008.

The MSU Museum is home to the Great Lakes Quilt Center, and a collection of more than 500 historic and contemporary quilts. The Great Lakes Quilt Center has evolved from the sustained and significant quilt-related activities and resources at the Michigan State University Museum and the museum's long-standing interest in and commitment to preserving and presenting traditional arts history.

Embroidered wall hanging made by Johanna Sebaya, South Africa.

The MSU Museum is Michigan's natural history and culture museum and the state's first Smithsonian Institution affiliate. The MSU Museum -- accredited by the American Association of Museums -- collects, preserves, studies and interprets cultural artifacts and natural history specimens, with collections numbering more than 1 million in four buildings on the MSU campus. One of the oldest museums in the Midwest, the MSU Museum is committed to education, exhibitions, research and the building and stewardship of collections that focus on Michigan and its relationship to the Great Lakes and the world beyond.

Embroidered wall hanging made by Lucy Manda, Winterveldt, South Africa

The MSU Museum is open seven days a week free of charge (donations are encouraged). Located on West Circle Drive next to Beaumont Tower on the MSU campus, the MSU Museum is accessible to persons with disabilities. Hours are Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. -5 p.m.; and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Visitor parking is available in front of the building and at metered spaces at the Grand River Ramp, one block away at the corner of Grand River Avenue and Charles Street. For more information, call (517) 355-2370 or see http://museum.msu.edu .