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  "description": "The Wichita church hosted 12 panels of the quilt from June 1-7. Photographs by Ben Miller & Olive Yager and paintings by Bob Neace hang through the end of the month.",
  "path": "/plymouth-congregational-wichita-aids-memorial-quilt/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-14T17:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.shoutwichita.com",
  "tags": [
    "the National Mall in Washington, D.C.",
    "the website for the National AIDS Memorial",
    "Subscribe",
    "Click here to support our work with a tax-deductible donation",
    "Yes! I want to support the SHOUT"
  ],
  "textContent": "Wichita's Plymouth Congregational church displayed 12 panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt during the first week of Pride month, June 1-7. Each panel contained at least one reference to a person or organization from Kansas, which made the viewing experience especially powerful.\n\nPhotographer Kendra Cremin documented the installation for readers who weren't able to see it in person.\n\nThe entire AIDS Memorial Quilt weighs 54 tons and comprises nearly 50,000 panels. Plymouth Congregational hosted 12 in its fellowship hall from June 1-7. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.____Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__ Mementos, such as a striped western shirt, are often included in quilt blocks. Presumably the background of this one is composed of Larry Joe Lovin's old denim jeans. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__ Some individual quilt blocks include traditional quilting and embroidery, while others are canvasses for photographs and mementos. This one combines the two approaches. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__ One of the panels contains a block memorializing Larry Cox, who lived in Wichita. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__ The quilt includes contributions from advocacy groups and organizations in addition to memorials to individuals. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__ Another panel with a Wichita connection memorializes Randal Jones. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__ One of 12 complete panels that hung at Plymouth Congregational Church. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__ A visitor reads inscriptions on a quilt panel. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__ Members of the Plymouth Congregational community contributed toward the display. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__\n\nQuilt panels were first numbered, then bar-coded, to keep the enormous project organized. At Plymouth, they hung on a telescoping support system. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__\n\nQuilt panels hang from metal structures, which turned the fellowship hall into two large galleries. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__\n\nThe quilt illuminates the enormous cost of the AIDS crisis, and it is also a profound statement about grief and memory. I first saw photos and read news reports about the quilt at least 30 years ago, when it was last displayed in its entirety on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. But it was something else to see (part of) it in person.\n\nAccording to my research, panels from the quilt were last displayed in Wichita in 2000 at the Mid-America All-Indian Museum. You can learn more about the AIDS Memorial Quilt — and explore a searchable online version — on the website for the National AIDS Memorial.\n\nThough the quilt is no longer on view, the church is showing work by three local artists through the end of June. Vibrant acrylic paintings by Bob Neace hang in the church's hallway gallery.\n\nThe aptly named Hallway Gallery at Plymouth Congregational. Paintings by Bob Neace will be on view through the end of June.\n\nNeace records flowers, Kansas pastoral scenes, and even abstract work, all of which are rendered in deliberate brushstrokes.\n\nAcrylic paintings by Bob Neace, from left: \"Cathedral of Solitude\" and \"Before the Beginning.\" __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__ Acrylic paintings by Bob Neace. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__\n\nPhotographs by Olive Yager and Ben Miller hang in the Lobby Gallery, just inside the entrance from the parking lot.\n\nPhotographs by Ben Miller and Olive Yager hang in the Lobby Gallery. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__ Photographs by Ben Miller hang in the the Lobby Gallery at Plymouth Congregational church in Wichita. __Photo by Kendra Cremin for The SHOUT.__\n\nThe works by Bob Neace, Ben Miller, and Olive Yager are for sale.\n\nThe galleries at Plymouth Congregational are open to the public from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m-noon Sundays. Admission is free, and the building is accessible to people with physical disabilities.\n\n💌\n\n __A version of this post was first shared in one of our weekly newsletters.__ Subscribe__to get the latest arts and culture news in your inbox.__\n\n## Support Kansas arts writing\n\nThe SHOUT is a Wichita-based independent newsroom focused on artists living and working in Kansas. We're partly supported by the generosity of our readers, and every dollar we receive goes directly into the pocket of a contributing writer, editor, or photographer. Click here to support our work with a tax-deductible donation**.**\n\nYes! I want to support the SHOUT",
  "title": "In the galleries: The AIDS Memorial Quilt at Plymouth Congregational Church",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-22T03:49:58.316Z"
}