West Hollywood AIDS Monument opens with moving presentation

Thursday, November 20, 2025
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- West Hollywood Park is now the home of the new STORIES: The AIDS Monument.

The grand opening ceremony was held Sunday night at the Pacific Design Center.

The monument is made of 147 bronze pillars called "Traces" which are 13 feet tall and measure approximately 4x4 inches at the base,

The Traces start with a very informal layout. As you move through them, the grid in which the Traces are located becomes more defined.

ABC7's Kevin Ozebek spoke in-depth with Board Chair Irwin Rappaport about STORIES: The AIDS Monument


Thirty of the Traces have words engraved on them, representing what people were feeling and experiencing in the early days of the epidemic.



Visitors are able to hear audio stories from the 1980s and early 1990s on their mobile devices when visiting the monument.

At night, the lights at the top of Traces are illuminated, resembling the candlelight vigils that happened for years.

For more information, visit the foundation website at aidsmonument.org.
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