The epidemic has killed far more Americans than the Vietnam War did. Now an AIDS monument by the creator of the Marine Corps “Iwo Jima” War Memorial is set to take its place in the nation’s capital. Felix de Weldon has designed a dramatic bronze sculpture of a man struggling heavenward toward a molecular model meant to symbolize the cure for HIV. At his side, a woman, child and baby are enshrouded in a part of the AIDS Quilt. The base of the sculpture will be inscribed with a poem to be chosen in an international contest.

--Jeanne Chitty