The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, Georgia has a new memorial garden and pavilion honoring Coretta Scott King. Designed by New York artist Saya Woolfalk, the Coretta Scott King Monument and Peace and Meditation Garden was unveiled on what would have been the author and civil rights activist’s 96th birthday last Thursday, April 27.
The monument element of the memorial consists of an ornate stainless steel and bronze pavilion with a rose pattern around the leaves that make up the dome, referencing the coral-orange hybrid rose named after Scott King it -even. The floral motif also reappears on the floor through a mosaic of ceramic tiles restoring the rose. Along the inner perimeter of the rim of the dome, Woolfalk has incorporated a quote from Scott King which reads, “Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe you must become its soul.”
In a nod to Scott King’s career and passion for public speaking, Woolfalk placed a lectern in the center of the pavilion with several cast bronze microphones, one of which is live, to invite clients to express their commitments to nonviolent change within the civil rights movement. Today.
Instead of a physical representation of Scott King, the artist has chosen to portray him in a metaphorical sense that speaks to his spirit and ideals. Woolfalk has also been selected to materialize similar public memorials to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Los Angeles and environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Miami. The commissions were backed by media streaming company Hulu in recognition that less than 8% of public statues represent women in the USA.
Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter and King Center CEO Bernice A. King and her 14-year-old niece Yolanda King together untied the ceremonial ribbon of the Peace and Meditation Garden and cut flag ribbon at the unveiling ceremony. attended by former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, civil rights attorney Xernona Clayton and many others. Poet Laureate Pearl Cleage and Grammy Award winner Jennifer Holliday were among several artists featured in the program honoring the late Scott King on his birthday.
The King Center was established by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following the assassination of her husband. MLK Jr.’s remains were eventually moved from Southview Cemetery to a custom-built marble crypt on the King Center campus in 1970, and Scott King was buried there alongside her husband in 2006. Woolfalk said in a statement to BPG News that it was significant to build the monument on the “sacred grounds” of the King Center rather than honoring Scott King at any other location. The King Center is free to visit from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
