The ribbon of steel is composed of 20 steel panels anchored to concrete piers and is engraved with the names of nearly 800 people from BC who have died of AIDS. The panels have a natural rust-oxidized finish. It winds down the slope from the parking lot at Sunset Beach towards English Bay. The overall length may ultimately be as much as 60 feet. The names are inscribed beneath the phrase, "With you a part of me hath passed away", from poet/philosopher George Santayana.