A new monument dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King will be revealed Friday at Boston Common. The bronze structure depicts the arms, shoulders, and hands of the Kings hugging after Martin received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
” in Montgomery, Alabama, reflecting South African miners with lifted arms and undergoing a humiliating physical examination. Thomas said that this particular project is special because the Kings are “two of the most iconic figures of the 20th century, and that in the 21st century, I’m able to be a part of continuing their story and honor them,” he said. “That’s pretty, pretty awesome.”
The process for creating the sculpture was not easy. Once Thomas’ proposal for the project was accepted, the sculpture required several levels of approval from multiple organizations, including the Boston Art Commission and Boston Landmarks Commission. Once the Boston Arts Councilto approve the sculpture’s design in March 2021, the city excavated the land where the sculpture is placed, digging into it to ensure human bones or ancient artifacts were not misplaced.
In forming the massive bronze sculpture, Thomas also said he worked with the Walla Walla Foundry, a contemporarybased in Washington state, which rendered a 3D-printed model of the sculpture and molded it with bronze. Once the sculpture was complete last spring, the company disassembled it into six pieces and shipped it to Boston.
A man reaches to touch a detail of the 20-foot-high bronze sculpture "The Embrace," a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, in the Boston Common on Jan. 10, 2023, in Boston.The sculpture sits in the same spot where in 1965 King led 20,000 people in the northeast’sKing was familiar with Boston, earning his Ph.D. in theology from Boston University in 1955.
“The idea was that the Kings met in Boston,” Thomas said “And a lot of people don’t understand the legacy of civil rights in Boston and that this was a great opportunity to celebrate that and bring awareness.”
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