Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, (sculpture).

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, (sculpture).

Yixin, Lei, sculptor.

Devrouax and Purnell, designer.

ROMA Design Group, designer.

McKissack and McKissack, architectural firm.

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, (sculpture).

Shrimp pink granite.

Overall: 4 acres. The Mountain of Despair: H. 30 ft. The Stone of Hope: H. 30 ft. Relief of Martin Luther King, Jr.: H. 28 ft. Inscription walls: approx. L. 500 ft.

The entrance to the memorial is through a break in the middle of a large granite boulder titled "The Mountain of Despair" that represents the struggle for equality. The section removed to create the entrance is titled the "The Stone of Hope" and is installed a few feet away in the center of a plaza along the Tidal Basin. On the reverse of The Stone of Hope is a relief portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. standing with his arms crossed, his left hand holding a rolled up copy of his "I Have a Dream" speech, and his gaze directed out over the Tidal Basin toward the Jefferson Memorial. The line from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, "With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope" inspired the design of the memorial. Two granite inscription walls extending nearly 500 feet along the perimeter of the plaza flank The Mountain of Despair. The inscription walls contain excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches and writings. The memorial's installation site on the National Mall is midway on the axis between the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial.

Portrait male -- King, Martin Luther, Jr. -- Full length

Occupation -- Other -- Reformer

Occupation -- Religion -- Clergy

History -- United States -- Black History

Object -- Written Matter -- Scroll

Outdoor Sculpture -- District of Columbia -- Washington

Located National Mall, West Potomac Park, along Tidal Basin, Washington, District of Columbia

In 1996, Congress authorized the creation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. The memorial's sponsor, Martin Luther King's fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest intercollegiate fraternity for African Americans, formed the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation to raise the necessary funding for the memorial and to locate an installation site along the National Mall. A competition for the memorial's design organized by the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation drew over 900 entries from around the world. The chosen entry was created by Devrouax and Purnell / ROMA Design Group Joint Ventures. The sculptor for King's portrait carved on the reverse of The Stone of Hope was chosen by the Foundation after polling a group of international sculptors who recommended Master Lei Yixin of China. After interviews and examinations of his work, Lei Yixin was chosen as the sculptor in 2007. Lei created both a three-foot model and a thirty-foot model for The Stone of Hope sculpture. The head for the portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. was chosen from four different examples as the best likeness by the Foundation and the King family. A thirty-foot fiberglass model was then created as the model for the granite carving. The artist began with 159 granite blocks in his studio in China where he carved most of the work. The sculpture was then disassembled for shipping to Washington where it was reassembled at the installation site for the final carving. The memorial opened to the public on Monday, Aug. 22, 2011, and the dedication ceremony was set for Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, the forty-eighth anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial. The dedication ceremony, however, was postponed as Hurricane Irene swept through Washington the same weekend.

Inventory Staff, 2011.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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