City Of Cincinnati: Final Call For Artists To Submit Applications For MLK Commission: Oct. 14

Press release from the City of Cincinnati:

Oct 13, 2021

CINCINNATI – The deadline for artists to submit applications to the City of Cincinnati to design and build an outdoor public memorial to honor civil rights icon Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021.

>The city announced an open call for artists at the beginning of September. This first step requires artists, individually or as a team, to submit details about their qualifications in a formal RFQ.
An evaluation committee will narrow the list to a select number of artists or teams who will develop design proposals with public input. The short list of applicants is expected to be announced Dec. 17. The finalist is scheduled to be announced in early May 2022.

“We are excited to move forward with the review process,” said City Manager Paula Boggs Muething. “There is a great deal of talent among the RFQ applicants.”

The memorial will be located at the northeast corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive East and Reading Road in Uptown’s Avondale neighborhood. City council passed an ordinance (No.0167-2021) in May that approved $1 million for the project.

King’s connection to Cincinnati included a partnership with the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, pastor of Revelation Baptist Church in the West End. Together, King, Shuttlesworth and others formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to better coordinate civil rights protest activities across the South.

The memorial is slated for completion and a public dedication in August 2023 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of King’s “Dream” speech. Thursday’s deadline of Oct. 14 marks the anniversary of King receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Read more about the project and follow the link to the RFQ.

This press release was produced by the City of Cincinnati. The views expressed here are the author’s own.