Monday, February 6, 2012

Why the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Failed - and How to Fix It -- posted by Florida Fine Art Blog



The Atlantic - by Michael J. Crosbie

The design vision was strong, and the artist accomplished, but a couple of key changes were made between conception and execution.


An interesting take on what can happen during the process of creating art.  Having the best intentions it seems as though the design team lost their way and completed something much different than what was originally envisioned, to the detriment of Martin Luther King's legacy.  At the time of this posting there is an effort underway to fix some of the mistakes Michael Crosbie points out in his article.  The first thing being addressed is to somehow include excerpts from the "I Have A Dream" speech that was remarkably omitted from the memorial.

I am a big fan of the National Mall in DC.  Just from a sculptural point of view there is no place on earth like it, a giant walking sculpture garden celebrating great American's.  The two newer memorials; the WWII memorial and the beautiful walking memorial of FDR are fantastic additions.  If you haven't seen all the new additions, you must go.  And make sure to see them both in the day light and at night.  Take the Korean War memorial for example, I think the full impact of that memorial is truly only seen at night.  I have looked forward to visiting the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial this summer and hope they figure out how to make this memorial as successful as the rest.  GL

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial website
National Mall website

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