Smithsonian Exhibition Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Open in Washington, D.C. Event Celebrates 40th Anniversary of the March on Washington

In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."-the first major exhibition of visual arts dedicated to celebrating the civil rights leader-features 115 works by prominent and emerging artists, including folk artists. The exhibition is a visual testament to the enduring power of Kings life and work and includes painting, sculpture, photographs prose and poetry.

The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) is circulating the exhibition. In the Spirit of Martin" will open at the Smithsonian Institutions International Gallery on May 15 and remain on view until July 27. Considered one of the most significant traveling exhibitions the museum has ever produced, President Bush, members on Congress and Coretta Scott King are slated to attend the opening night festivities.

The exhibit, created and developed by Gary Chassman, Executive Director of Verve Editions, started as a book and grew into an exhibition. I want people to leave the exhibit optimistic with the feeling that no matter what their background or challenges, they will make it," said Chassman. Thats what King was all about."

The national traveling exhibition is complemented by a large-format full-color book. In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.", is published by Tinwood Books. The book serves as a catalog for the exhibit with essays by Bernice Johnson Reagon, Dr. Walter Leonard, Rep. John Lewis, June Jordan, Nikki Giovanni and Stanley Crouch.

The exhibit showcases the passions and talents of artists and their response to Martin Luther King. Artists included in the exhibit are Sam Gilliam, Elizabeth Catlett, Kay Brown, Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks, Andy Warhol, Martin Puryear, Norman Rockwell, Romare Bearden, Robert Rauschenberg, Faith Ringgold, Sue Coe, Emanuel Martinez, Jean Michel Basquiat, Lois Mailou Jones and others.
                                                                                                    

The exhibit features works created during Kings lifetime, as well as ones completed as recently as 2001 and provides evidence that Kings message and memory have continued to shape American life.

Washington is the first stop on the southern swing of the exhibit, which will also travel to Memphis, Tenn., and Montgomery, Alabama. This is the leg of the tour where people will not only have an intellectual reaction to the works, but an emotional one," said Chassman. Washington is the site of Kings I Have a Dream" speech and this year also the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington. In the Spirit of Martin" will be the first event of the year to commemorate the event." This year is also the 35th anniversary of Martins death.

   In the Spirit of Martin" premiered at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit in January of 2002, and has since traveled to Miami Beach Fla. and Minneapolis, Minn.

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