"The Embrace" by Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design Group.
The city and MLK Boston yesterday released the five finalists for a proposed memorial to the civil-rights leader and his wife - both of whom studied in Boston, where they met - on Boston Common.
Drawings of the five proposals are now on display at the BPL main library in Copley Square. They vary in size - one would include large walkways in black stone that would continue across Beacon Street to the grounds of the State House - and proposed location on the Common.
In addition to the Embrace (more info), the finalists are:
Avenue of Peace by Yinka Shonabare (more info):
Boston's King Memorial by Adam Pendleton, Adjaye Associates, Future\Pace and David Reinfurt (more info):
Empty Pulpit Monument by Barbara Chase-Riboud (more info):
The Ripple Effects by Wodiczko + Bonder / Maryann Thompson Architects, with Walter Hood (more info):
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Comments
No it doesn't
By lbb
Wed, 09/19/2018 - 2:06pm
I'm gonna take a guess that you've never actually been to the Common or you'd know what flagrant bullshit that is.
I'm sure that helping minority neighborhoods is a major concern of yours.
Can this be built on the
By Murkin
Wed, 09/19/2018 - 1:49pm
Can this be built on the Common, isn’t it going to cast a shadow on it?
The Bridge is Inappropriate
By tedpk
Wed, 09/19/2018 - 5:38pm
Sorry -- but the bridge infringes on the immediate vicinity of The Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment
Augustus Saint-Gaudens -- [bas relief plus] -- sculpture depicts the historic event of Col. Shaw and the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, marching down Beacon Street on May 28, 1863. -- from there they headed to Fort Wagner and immortality -- "Glory"
No one with any consideration for history can seriously consider putting anything next to that memorial
and if you move the bridge down the hill it loses the link with the State House -- so its a non starter
The Bridge is Inappropriate
By tedpk
Wed, 09/19/2018 - 5:39pm
Sorry -- but the bridge infringes on the immediate vicinity of The Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment
Augustus Saint-Gaudens -- [bas relief plus] -- sculpture depicts the historic event of Col. Shaw and the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, marching down Beacon Street on May 28, 1863. -- from there they headed to Fort Wagner and immortality -- "Glory"
No one with any consideration for history can seriously consider putting anything next to that memorial
and if you move the bridge down the hill it loses the link with the State House -- so its a non starter
My issue with the bridge is different
By Waquiot
Wed, 09/19/2018 - 6:37pm
I think the man the bridge would be memorializing might end up being overlooked. I get the symbolism, but a bridge is infrastructure.
Slide
By anon
Wed, 09/19/2018 - 6:44pm
Perhaps its just a poor artist's rendering or an optical illusion, but there doesn't seem to be any way on or off that bridge from the side with the grass. It seems to be several feet higher up than the grass. It is not at grade. The little figures in the rendering look like they would have to leap off several feet onto the grass. It seems almost like a slide. And on the other side, does it let you off at the stairs? So you sort of go up a steep incline and then further up stairs? It's bizarre.
Time to start over.
By Blue Notes
Wed, 09/19/2018 - 10:13pm
The disembodied "Embrace" is horrid but it has something in common with the other proposals: it evokes nothing that conjures the life and spirit of Martin Luther King.
Why do they all look so cheap ? The horrid granite or cement park in front of the statehouse is a particularly jarring affront to good taste.
If this is going to happen then artists of a higher caliber must be included. I hope that the black community of Boston has a strong voice in deciding what's appropriate.
If done right, a statue of Martin and Coretta together would be an interesting addition to the Commonwealth Ave mall.
Interactive space
By St Botolph Resident
Thu, 09/20/2018 - 8:45am
I'm going to think about it a while before filling in the survey, but so far my two favorites are (1.) "Boston's King Memorial: by Adam Pendleton, Adjaye Associates, Future\Pace and David Reinfurt and (2.) "Empty Pulpit" by Barbara Chase-Riboud with Michael Rosenfeld Gallery.
I like the concept of an interactive space that people can use to walk, sit, and read and/or listen to King's words. I could see visiting these more than once, to enjoy the space and feel inspired. I could also see sitting there just to read or meet up with friends.
As for scale -- I think it's great that these are interactive spaces rather than a single statue. I could see enjoying the spaces as we do any space on the common -- sit & read, work, meet up with friends, walking/jogging by, etc.. The artist statements on some of these designs suggest that we can think of it as a living memorial - inspirational & just as relevant to whatever work we are doing now as to the work of the past.
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