working on 10th street wall at twilight
Martin Luther King Day isn’t just about remembering Dr. King. It is about furthering his cause and keeping the ball rolling.
(PRWEB) January 12, 2016
With racial tensions yet again at forefront of our national consciousness, internationally renowned artists in collation with over 1,000 residents of Chattanooga, Tennessee are keeping Dr. King’s mission alive through art. On Martin Luther King Day 2016, join the dedication of a 40,000 square foot mural at 12:00 pm on Monday, January 18, 2016 at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, 200 E ML King Blvd in Chattanooga.
The work, entitled “We Will Not Be Satisfied Until,” seeks to examine racial bias and gentrification. This timely mural by the internationally renowned Meg Saligman Studios takes its title from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and employs symbolic imagery from Chattanooga's past and present in an attempt to give a voice to members of the local community who strive for balance in reclaiming, re-imagining, and reinventing a downtown Chattanooga neighborhood currently undergoing rapid gentrification.
The design focuses on the themes of transformation, remembrance, culture, and Dr. King’s vision of a peaceful, socially and economically integrated society. Each of the four walls encompasses a different theme and the entire piece includes around sixty symbolic images with locally inspired visual interpretations of lines of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Over 1,000 Chattanoogans of varied backgrounds helped to bring this project to life, and at the dedication, attendees will be asked to submit their own endings to the piece’s title “We shall not be satisfied until” in an effort to honor and promote Dr. King’s spirit of peaceful progress.
“Martin Luther King Day isn’t just about remembering Dr. King. It is about furthering his cause and keeping the ball rolling.” says lead artist Meg Saligman. “We will not be satisfied until’ is a question everyone should be asking themselves.”
Meg Saligman’s world class public art studio has been travelling throughout the U.S. and abroad to invigorate urban landscapes with paint and light for nearly 3 decades. Her studio specializes in producing the largest murals in the country, always site specific and socially engaged. Most recently, the studio designed and created the Knotted Grotto, a project intended to bring awareness to homelessness that incorporated the struggles of over 150,000 people and was blessed by Pope Francis II himself.
For more information about this mural and it’s dedication, please contact artist Meg Saligman at 215-485-7358 or the project facilitator Peggy Townsend at Public Art Chattanooga 423-903-1488. Check out this project on instagram at https://instagram.com/megamural.
