Newly-Designed AIDS Memorial To Be Considered In Palm Springs

Is Palm Springs ready for the Well of Love, the latest iteration of an AIDS  Memorial in the Downtown Park?

The old memorial was short-lived due to its shape, think a 9 foot diameter donut or bagel.

So the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial Task Force went back to artist Phillip K Smith III, who drew up the first Memorial, and said could you come up with something different.

So he did.  This one is about 11 feet tall, oval shaped, resembling a 3 sided mirror, but with a water ripple design on the glass.

The Palm Springs Public Arts Commission will review the design on Oct 3rd, and the City Council will look at it no November 14th.

Another year or year and half, in late 2025 or early 2026,  the Memorial should be ready for public display.

Renderings of the Memorial and a comprehensive description of the physical structure and the accompanying virtual site are now available for viewing at https://presentation.psaidsmemorial.org/.

The project will be presented to the Palm Springs Public Arts Commission on October 3rd at 5:30 pm.

Nov 14th the Palm Springs City Council will take up the matter. .

“The goal of the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial has always been to ensure that the lives of those lost to HIV and AIDS are never forgotten,” said Mike Richey, Co-Chair National AIDS Memorial and Task Force member. “We are so pleased that Phillip was able to incorporate so many of the insightful and heartfelt suggestions, reflections, emotions, concerns, creativity, and vision provided by the community. He absorbed it all and translated it into this stunning new design. Early feedback indicates to us that the community appreciates the thoughtfulness that went into this new vision for the Memorial.”

New AIDS Memorial Art design Palm Springs CA

Photo from O’Bayley Communications Palm Springs CA Sept 12th 2024