National AIDS Memorial Grove

The National AIDS Memorial Grove began as an act of defiance against silence during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the late nineteen eighties. A small group of residents, overwhelmed by the loss of friends and community members, envisioned a sacred place for collective grief. They selected the de Laveaga Dell, a seven-acre site in Golden Gate Park that had fallen into deep disrepair and neglect. By transforming this once-abandoned ravine into a vibrant, living garden, they created a space to acknowledge the lives lost and the struggles of those still fighting the disease.