The Unified Civic Monuments Project will share the approved design for the Martin Luther King Jr. monument in Benton Harbor at the MLK Week Community Celebration the week of Jan. 16.
The project committee will also begin conversations around the St. Joseph monument site. The theme for the 2023 MLK Week is “Keep Moving Forward.”
The committee received approval of the design for the Benton Harbor monument at the final Benton Harbor City Commission meeting of 2022 on Dec. 19.
The commission originally tabled the design discussion in early October, pending changes to ensure the monument fits in with plans for the City Center Park.
The location was approved in early June.
During MLK week, the group will share the approved monument design for Benton Harbor and engage with guests about the St. Joseph installation slated for the Margaret B. Upton Arboretum along the St. Joseph River.
Sharon and Mack Brown are the founders of the project and co-directors of the African-American History and Literature Gallery.
“All the pieces are coming together: two gathering tables – one in Benton Harbor, one in St. Joe – for exchanging our visions and plans to ‘keep moving forward’ for human justice,” Sharon Brown said in a news release.
The UCMP is working with artists Harold Woodridge and David Alan Clark to develop and finalize the requirements for the installations. Over the past year, the group has connected with hundreds of local residents, collecting thoughts and input about the monument subjects and sites.
Clark and Woodridge’s original proposal and presentation can be viewed at unifiedmonuments.org/ artists.
The group has now raised more than half of the $850,000 necessary to complete the project. More details, and a link for online donations, can be found at unifiedmonuments.org.
The Unified Civic Monuments Project is led by the founders of the African- American History & Literature Gallery, with the support of Krasl Art Center, Lake Michigan College, Berrien Community Foundation, the BH-SJ Arts & Culture Social Justice Group, and the cities of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph.