The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Mural
Louis Delsarte
2010
Paint on steel panel
The 25 by 10 foot steel panels chronicle King’s life, beginning with King’s Auburn Avenue childhood, and ending with the promised land of equality that King prophesied in his final speech the day before before being assassinated in 1968. According to Delsarte, the mural is a “filmstrip of King’s life. It’s like a running account, an allegory of the people who made up his world.” The mural, which Delsarte spent a year and a half researching and refining, features countless faces of the civil rights movement, including Rosa Parks, Bobby Kennedy, Malcom X and Ralph David Abernathy. The vibrant and colorful paintings were executed with the help of local volunteers. With the help of the community, Delsarte created a deeply emotional and dynamic work that also displays his unique abstract and German expressionist artistry.
Louis Delsarte is an American artist, born and raised in New York City. Growing up, Delsarte was surrounded by the art and music of his parents’ friends, who were artists and entertainers from the Harlem Renaissance. Later on, Delsarte’s work was influenced by those artistic surroundings and an interest in African American history. After earning his BFA at Pratt Institute in New York, and an MFA from the University of Arizona, Delsarte received certification in Fine Arts Education from Brooklyn College in New York City, and now is an Asssociate Professor in Arts and Humanities at Morehouse College, in Atlanta.
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site Visitor Center
450 Auburn Ave.
Atlanta, GA 30312