"Peace Memorial" in Indianapolis, IN

With Martin Luther King, Jr. Day right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to look at some MLK-inspired public art in Indianapolis. Martin Luther King Memorial Park in Indy visibly celebrates the battle for civil rights with several interesting works of art. One is a colorful mural on the walls of a building next to the park’s swimming pool, and the other is a two-piece sculpture of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy called “Peace Memorial.” The memorial marks the spot in which Kennedy gave a speech the night MLK was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Here you can listen to an NPR story explaining the historic night, 41 years ago, when presidential candidate Kennedy delivered the news of MLK’s death to shocked residents. His words calmed the city, and it has been noted that as a result, Indianapolis did not see the violence other cities experienced that night. The landmark and great significance of this place is a must-experience.

Martin Luther King Memorial Park, Indianapolis

But even with a bit of searching in Indianapolis, it was difficult to find public art related to the civil rights movement, black history or MLK. Indiana Avenue, Randsom Place, Walker Theatre and Crispus Attucks were several of the places I looked, from the outside. There is a Crispus Attucks Museum which includes “treasures from the first all African American high school in the state of Indiana and highlights its’ history-making African American community that produced such legends as basketball great “The Big O” Oscar Robertson; Grammy award winning super star, Kenny ‘baby face’ Edmonds; jazz great, Freddie Hubbard; and opera sensation, Angela Brown.” There are also plans to build an Indiana Museum of  African American History, to open in 2010 in the White River State Park.

Even Washington, D.C. has yet to fully realize a National Memorial dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. A memorial designed by San Fransisco-based ROMA Design Group is under construction on the north east corner of the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln Memorial (where MLK gave his famous “I have a dream” speech) and Jefferson Memorial. Started in 2006, its completion is scheduled for 2010 and is dependent upon raising $120 million.

The Memorial is conceived as an engaging landscape experience to convey three fundamental and recurring themes throughout Dr. King’s life – democracy, justice, and hope. Natural elements such as the crescent-shaped-stone wall inscribed with excerpts of his sermons, and public addresses will serve as the living testaments of his vision of America. The centerpiece of the Memorial, the “Stone of Hope”, will feature a 30-foot likeness of Dr. King.

Some museums are already taking steps to document and celebrate the first African American President of the U.S. Fulfilling MLK’s dream of equality, Barack Obama will be sworn in as President on Tuesday. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has acquired a poster of Barack Obama by artist Shepard Fairey for its permanent collection. You can read my May 2008 post about Fairey for more on political portraits.

We will be celebrating MLK Day at the IMA on Monday, January 19. Join in, take a moment to realize this landmark celebration, and be sure to comment if you know of anymore Indianapolis MLK-inspired public art we should visit.

Did you know 73% of Americans use the internet at least occasionally? That is a lot of people! So using texting, email, blogs, social networks, etc. for politics was an obvious and very smart decision.

One of the untold stories of our new President Elect, imho, is the fact that for the first time in 8 years, we have a leader who embraces and, more importantly, actually uses & understands the same technology as you and me.

Technology, specifically the Internet (not Internets!), has never played a more important role in the campaign for an American President. The list of internet technologies I could find which President Obama utilized were, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, MyBatanga, FaithBase and his very own social networking site MyBarackObama. And, I’m sure there are several more I’m missing!

More importantly, President Obama compiled an email list of over 10 million supporters according to Wired. And even more exciting, this list will live on beyond the campaign trail!

As part of the presidential transition, Obama officials are looking to add a significant “new media” component to the White House communications operation. The campaign employed 95 people in its Internet operation, building a user-friendly Web site that served as a platform for grass-roots activities and distributed statements, policy positions and footage of Obama events. The White House Web operation will follow a similar but probably more ambitious path, transition officials said. – Wired

I think the significance of using these new mediums to deliver a political message is that they have the ability to bypass traditional slanted media outlets and the message can be more pure as it can be delivered directly to the people, therefore bypassing the Sean Hannitys of the world. Trust me, that’s a win for both Republicans and Democrats.

Finally, Washington gets it. Can you imagine getting an important real-time text message from your government? Now if only I had an iPhone. This is way too good to be true… somebody pinch me.

Beginning with McCain, he expresses his strong military background and personal heritage through his logo and with merchandise including a nautical lapel pin and Irish buttons. McCain also appeals to coalitions and branches of the armed forces through a variety of apparel. Perhaps the most noticeable difference from the other candidates is that McCain chooses to employ few images of himself. Clinton and Obama both have artists’ renderings of themselves for posters. McCain only uses unaltered photographs of himself on merchandise.

Next up is Clinton with her surprising portrait with “rising sun” found in the accessories section of her official campaign Web site’s online store. According to the site, this original Hillary Clinton print, designed by Hollywood screenwriter Tony Puryear (”Eraser”), is an exclusive to Hillarystore.com. The posters (there are two versions) are “Union printed in USA using 100% wind power and vegetable-based inks.”

“Senator Clinton is a beautiful, strong and inspiring woman, and I wanted to make a poster that reflected that. Rather than putting a slogan on the poster, I chose to put her name, because she is surely the only leader at this level with whom we are all on a first-name basis, and to me, that reflects her personal warmth and connection with ordinary Americans.” – Tony Puryear

One can’t help but reference the resemblance to Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Communist party in China, and his popular depiction in front of a “rising sun.”

Clinton assumes first name recognition with most of her campaign design and merchandise, including her logo of “Hillary for President,” noting her cause, above a strip of the American flag. Her merchandise varies from simple yard signs to the more peculiar “Hillary Cares” piggy banks and goldtone glitter pins.

Finally, Obama, noted in the press for consistent campaign design and use of Gotham typeface, doesn’t shy away from the man in the mirror. His logo features an “O” (Did somebody say “O”prah?) or circle, a horizon, flag and his name and the year 2008. Obama is the only candidate to include the year ’08 in his logo. Perhaps the others are planning to run again.

Obama also features an “Artists for Obama” gallery where art and merchandise donated to the campaign by artists are for sale. Most striking is the limited edition Obama “CHANGE” portrait created by contemporary artist Shepard Fairey. Obama’s Web site says to stay tuned for additional prints in the days ahead.

Again, one can’t help but recognize some strange similarity to the popular depiction of communist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara. I’m not saying Clinton or Obama should be compared to the likes of Mao or Che in character or governing style, but perhaps there’s a connection in the artistic depiction of power and authority that strikes the same chord.

After the election is over, the president is selected, and the years pass, it will be interesting to see what visual portrait of the 44th U.S. president history paints. For a look back on past presidents, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., holds the record in its permanent exhibition America’s Presidents. You may even find Hillary’s portrait around the corner.