Preparations are underway at Boston Common for the Embrace Memorial to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King.
In an effort to make the construction site more beautiful, King Boston commissioned the work of six local artists.
Artists were encouraged to interpret the prompt -- embracing Boston’s 20+ neighborhoods -- in any way they wanted.
Photographer Harry Scales chose to showcase his photographs from protests and Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Instead of focusing on the protests themselves, he turned the camera outward to “put faces to the movement.”
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Ngoc-Tran Vu, a socially engaged artist and cultural organizer, selected three pieces of her multi-medium work to acknowledge all of the hard work that’s been happening in our communities to push for more equity.
Vu specifically celebrates the anti-Asian hate, Black Lives Matter and anti-gentrification social movements.
More on inclusiveness in Boston
A similar celebration of diversity and representation is found in Zahira Nur Truth’s contribution.
The visionary, artist, and educator wanted to highlight some of the most iconic places across all of Boston. She also included portraits of kids so that everyone can see themselves or relate to the art.
Yotron The Don, a conceptually-abstract artist, drafted a story in his piece of digital art. People will see different variations of the same flower living and contributing to their ‘community.’
It was the global impact of the King’s work that inspired this; “the idea that we’re all one people and we should treat each other as such.”
Malakhai Pearson brings in photographs of the nightlife and music scene in Boston. He celebrates those that gave him opportunities and also champions new artists, DJs, and changemakers on the scene.
The Embrace Memorial will celebrate Dr. King and his wife Coretta Scott King.
Street Artist Rixy focuses a lot of her work on celebrating women, so she chose to celebrate Scott King in her piece. She says “[Scott King] really did hold him up, and support him, and build him.”
The King Boston fence art is up at Boston Common through January.
